Gold complex-containing cancer activity composition

ABSTRACT

Gold(I) complex with mixed ligands as an anticancer agent. The gold(I) ion is coordinated to a dithiocarbamate ligand and a phosphorus-containing ligand (e.g. phosphines). Also described are a pharmaceutical composition incorporating the gold(I) complex, a methods of synthesizing the gold(I) complex, and a method for treating cancer.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a GOLD COMPLEX-CONTAINING CANCER ACTIVITYCOMPOSITION of Ser. No. 15/990,289, having a filing date of May 25,2018, now allowed, which is a Continuation of Ser. No. 15/351,585, nowallowed, having a filing date of Nov. 15, 2016 and claims priority toU.S. Provisional Application No. 62/326,389, having a filing date ofApr. 22, 2016 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

STATEMENT OF FUNDING ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This project was funded by the National Plan for Science and Innovation(MARIFAH)—King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) throughthe Science and Technology Unit at King Fahd University of Petroleum andMinerals (KFUPM) of Saudi Arabia, award No. 14-MED64-04.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to therapeutic gold(I) complexes, apharmaceutical composition thereof, and a method of treating cancer.

Description of the Related Art

The “background” description provided herein is for the purpose ofgenerally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of thepresently named inventors, to the extent it is described in thisbackground section, as well as aspects of the description which may nototherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neitherexpressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the presentinvention.

The field of medicinal inorganic chemistry has gained prominence throughthe serendipitous discovery of the cytotoxic properties of cisplatin byRosenberg (Rosenberg, B.; Van Camp, L.; Krigas, T. Inhibition of Celldivision in Escherichia Coli by electrolysis products from a platinumelectrode. Nature. 1965, 205, 698-699, incorporated herein by referencein its entirety). Despite the great success of cisplatin and itsanalogues, the platinum-containing drugs manifests systemic toxicity andclinical inefficiency against resistant tumors, therefore limiting theirdomain of applicability (Rabik, A. C.; Dolan, E. M. Molecular mechanismsof resistance and toxicity associated with platinating agents. CancerTreat. Rev. 2007, 33, 9, incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety). The development of new metallo-therapeutic drugs withdifferent pharmacological activity from platinum-containing drugs is oneof the major goals of modern bioinorganic and bio-organometallicmedicinal chemistry research (Bertrand, B.; Bodio, E; Richard, Picquet,M.; Le Gendre, P.; Casini, A. Gold(I)N-heterocyclic carbene complexeswith an “activable” ester moiety: Possible biological applications. J.Organomet. Chem. 2105, 775, 124-129; Sadler, J. P.; Sue E. R. TheChemistry of Gold Drugs. Met.-Based Drugs. 1994, 1, 107-144; Shaw III,C. F. Gold-Based therapeutic agents. Chem. Rev. 1999, 99, 2589-2600;Best, L. S. and Sadler, J. P. Gold Drugs: Mechanism of Action andToxicity. Gold Bull. 1996, 29, 87-93; Van Rijt, H. S.; Sadler, J. P.Current applications and future potential for bioinorganic chemistry inthe development of anticancer drugs. Drug Discovery Today. 2009, 14,1089-1097; Pantelic, N; Stanojkovic, T. P.; Zmejkovski, B. B.; Sabo, T.J.; Kaluderovic, G. N. In vitro anticancer activity of gold(III)complexes with some esters of (S, S)-ethylenediamine-N,N′-di-2-propanoicacid. Eur. J. Med. Chem. 2015, 90, 766-774; and Al-Jaroudi, S. S.;Fettouhi, M.; Wazeer, M. I. M.; Isab, A. A.; Altuwaijri, S. Synthesis,characterization and cytotoxicity of new gold(III) complexes with 1,2-diaminocyclohexane: Influence of stereochemistry on antitumoractivity. Polyhedron. 2013, 50, 434-442, each incorporated herein byreference in their entirety). Considerable efforts are being made tocircumvent the side effects, to enhance the cytotoxicity profile and toaugment the efficacy and specificity of the prevalent antitumor drugs(Fléchon, A.; Rivoire, M.; Droz, J. P. Management of advanced germ-celltumors of the testis. Nat. Clin. Pract. Urol. 2008, 5, 262-276.; andAdams, G.; Zekri, J.; Wong, H.; Walking, J.; Green, J. A. Platinum-basedadjuvant chemotherapy for early-stage epithelial ovarian cancer: singleor combination chemotherapy. BJOG. 2010, 117, 1459-1467, eachincorporated herein by reference in their entirety).

Therefore, an objective of this disclosure is to provide a therapeuticgold(I) complex with a large therapeutic index, a composition comprisingthereof, and a method for treating cancer.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The foregoing paragraphs have been provided by way of generalintroduction, and are not intended to limit the scope of the followingclaims. The described embodiments, together with further advantages,will be best understood by reference to the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

A first aspect of the disclosure relates to a gold(I) complexrepresented by formula (I):

a salt thereof, a solvate thereof, or a combination thereof,where R₁ and R₂ are independently selected from the group consisting ofH, an unsubstituted alkyl, an optionally substituted cycloalkyl, anoptionally substituted cycloalkylalkyl, an optionally substitutedarylalkyl, an optionally substituted heteroaryl, an optionallysubstituted aryl, an optionally substituted heterocyclyl, an optionallysubstituted arylolefin, an optionally substituted C₄-C₁₀ alkenyl, and anoptionally substituted vinyl;R₃, R₄, and R₅ are independently selected from the group consisting ofH, an optionally substituted C₁-C₃ alkyl, an optionally substitutedC₃-C₅ cycloalkyl, an optionally substituted cycloalkylalkyl, anoptionally substituted arylalkyl, an optionally substituted heteroaryl,an optionally substituted aryl, an optionally substituted heterocyclyl,an optionally substituted arylolefin, an optionally substituted vinyl,an optionally substituted alkylamino, an optionally substitutedarylamino, an optionally substituted alkylarylamino, an optionallysubstituted alkoxy, and an optionally substituted aryloxy; andwith the proviso that R₁, R₂, R₃, R₄, and R₅ are not each an ethyl.

In one embodiment, R₁ and R₂ are the same unsubstituted alkyl group, andR₃, R₄, and R₅ are the same optionally substituted C₁-C₃ alkyl group.

In one embodiment, R₁ and R₂ are methyls, and R₃, R₄, and R₅ areselected from the group consisting of methyl, ethyl, and isopropyl.

In one embodiment, R₁ and R₂ are ethyls, and R₃, R₄, and R₅ are methyls.

In one embodiment, R₁ and R₂ are independently an unsubstituted alkylselected from the group consisting of isopropyl, sec-butyl, isobutyl,and tert-butyl.

A second aspect of the disclosure relates to a composition comprisingthe gold(I) complex of the first aspect, and a pharmaceuticallyacceptable carrier or excipient.

In one embodiment, the composition comprises 0.01-50 μM of the gold(I)complex relative to the total composition.

In one embodiment, the composition further comprises a chemotherapeuticagent.

In one embodiment, the chemotherapeutic agent is at least one selectedfrom the group consisting of aflibercept, asparaginase, bleomycin,busulfan, carmustine, chlorambucil, cladribine, cyclophosphamide,cytarabine, dacarbazine, daunorubicin, doxorubicin, etoposide,fludarabine, gemcitabine, hydroxyurea, idarubicin, ifosfamide,irinotecan, lomustine, mechlorethamine, melphalan, mercaptopurine,methotrexate, mitomycin, mitoxantrone, pentostatin, procarbazine,topotecan, vinblastine, vincristine, retinoic acid, oxaliplatin,carboplatin, 5-fluorouracil, teniposide, amasacrine, docetaxel,paclitaxel, vinorelbine, bortezomib, clofarabine, capecitabine,actinomycin D, epirubicin, vindesine, methotrexate, 6-thioguanine,tipifarnib, imatinib, erlotinib, sorafenib, sunitinib, dasatinib,nilotinib, lapatinib, gefitinib, temsirolimus, everolimus, rapamycin,bosutinib, pzopanib, axitinib, neratinib, vatalanib, pazopanib,midostaurin, enzastaurin, trastuzumab, cetuximab, panitumumab,rituximab, bevacizumab, mapatumumab, conatumumab, and lexatumumab.

A third aspect of the disclosure relates to a method for treatingcancer, comprising administering the composition of the second aspect toa subject in need thereof.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises measuring aconcentration of a biomarker and/or detecting a mutation in thebiomarker before and/or after the composition is administered.

In one embodiment, the biomarker is at least one selected from the groupconsisting of BRCA1, BRCA2, HER-2, estrogen receptor, progesteronereceptor, cancer antigen 15-3, cancer antigen 27.29, carcinoembryonicantigen, Ki67, cyclin D1, cyclin E, and ERβ.

In one embodiment, the concentration of the biomarker is measured withan ELISA assay.

In one embodiment, the mutation in the biomarker is detected with atleast one method selected from the group consisting of a polymerasechain reaction assay, a DNA microarray, multiplex ligation-dependentprobe amplification, single strand conformational polymorphism,denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, heteroduplex analysis, andrestriction fragment length polymorphism.

In one embodiment, the cancer is resistant to cisplatin.

In one embodiment, the cancer is breast cancer.

In one embodiment, the subject is a mammal.

In one embodiment, an effective amount of the gold(I) complex, the saltthereof, the solvate thereof, or a combination thereof is in a range of1-100 mg/kg.

In one embodiment, the composition is administered once daily for atleast 2 days.

In one embodiment, the composition is administered orally.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of the disclosure and many of the attendantadvantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes betterunderstood by reference to the following detailed description whenconsidered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a view of the molecular structure of mononuclear complex 1,with partial atom labelling scheme and displacement ellipsoids drawn at50% probability level.

FIG. 2 is a view of the crystal packing diagram of complex 1 along planecontaining the c axis of the unit cell, with the dotted lines showingshort contacts between different functional groups of molecules.

FIG. 3 shows an optimized geometry of complex 1, obtained at theB3LYP/LanL2DZ level of theory using GAUSSIAN09 W.

FIG. 4 is a ¹H solution state NMR spectrum of complex 1 taken at 500 MHzin CDCl₃.

FIG. 5 is a ¹³C {¹H} solution state NMR spectrum of complex 1 taken at125.65 MHz in CDCl₃.

FIG. 6 shows the cytotoxicity of compounds 1-5 to MDA-MB231 cells.

FIG. 7 shows the cytotoxicity of compounds 1-5 to MCF-7 cells.

FIG. 8A is an overlay of the absorption spectra of complex 1 in theabsence and presence of CT DNA.

FIG. 8B is a plot of [DNA]/(e_(a)-e_(f)) against [DNA] for the titrationof CT DNA with complex 1.

FIG. 8C is an overlay of the absorption spectra of complex 2 in theabsence and presence of CT DNA.

FIG. 8D is a plot of [DNA]/(e_(a)-e_(f)) against [DNA] for the titrationof CT DNA with complex 2.

FIG. 8E is an overlay of the absorption spectra of complex 3 in theabsence and presence of CT DNA.

FIG. 8F is a plot of [DNA]/(e_(a)-e_(f)) against [DNA] for the titrationof CT DNA with complex 3.

FIG. 8G is an overlay of the absorption spectra of complex 4 in theabsence and presence of CT DNA.

FIG. 8H is a plot of [DNA]/(e_(a)-e_(f)) against [DNA] for the titrationof CT DNA with complex 4.

FIG. 8I is an overlay of the absorption spectra of complex 5 in theabsence and presence of CT DNA.

FIG. 8J is a plot of [DNA]/(e_(a)-e_(f)) against [DNA] for the titrationof CT DNA with complex 5.

FIG. 9A is an overlay of the absorption spectra of complex 4 in Tris-HClbuffer at various concentrations of 5′-GMP at 25° C.

FIG. 9B is a plot of [5′-GMP]/(e_(a)-e_(f)) against [5′-GMP] for thetitration of 5′-GMP with complex 4.

FIG. 9C is an overlay of the absorption spectra of complex 4 in Tris-HClbuffer at various concentrations of 5′-TMP at 25° C.

FIG. 9D is a plot of [5′-TMP]/(e_(a)-e_(f)) against [5′-TMP] for thetitration of 5′-TMP with complex 4.

FIG. 9E is an overlay of the absorption spectra of complex 4 in Tris-HClbuffer at various concentrations of 5′-AMP at 25° C.

FIG. 9F is a plot of [5′-AMP]/(e_(a)-e_(f)) against [5′-AMP] for thetitration of 5′-AMP with complex 4.

FIG. 9G is an overlay of the absorption spectra of complex 4 in Tris-HClbuffer at various concentrations of 5′-CMP at 25° C.

FIG. 9H is a plot of [5′-CMP]/(e_(a)-e_(f)) against [5′-CMP] for thetitration of 5′-CMP with complex 4.

FIG. 10A is an overlay of the emission spectra of complex 1 in Tris-HClbuffer (pH=7.2) in the absence and presence of CT DNA.

FIG. 10B is an overlay of the emission spectra of complex 2 in Tris-HClbuffer (pH=7.2) in the absence and presence of CT DNA.

FIG. 10C is an overlay of the emission spectra of complex 3 in Tris-HClbuffer (pH=7.2) in the absence and presence of CT DNA.

FIG. 10D is an overlay of the emission spectra of complex 4 in Tris-HClbuffer (pH=7.2) in the absence and presence of CT DNA.

FIG. 10E is an overlay of the emission spectra of complex 5 in Tris-HClbuffer (pH=7.2) in the absence and presence of CT DNA.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described more fullyhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some,but not all of the embodiments of the disclosure are shown.

The present disclosure will be better understood with reference to thefollowing definitions.

As used herein, the words “a” and “an” and the like carry the meaning of“one or more”. Within the description of this disclosure, where anumerical limit or range is stated, the endpoints are included unlessstated otherwise. Also, all values and subranges within a numericallimit or range are specifically included as if explicitly written out.

As used herein, “compound” and “complex” are used interchangeably, andare intended to refer to a chemical entity, whether in the solid, liquidor gaseous phase, and whether in a crude mixture or purified andisolated.

Platinum-containing anti-cancer agents, such as cisplatin, can bringabout several undesirable side effects in patients. Therefore,researchers have been studying anti-cancer agents which do not containplatinum. Among the emerging class of non-platinum antitumor agents,gold(I) complexes have recently gained attention because of their strongtoxicity toward malignant cells, which is generally accompanied bynon-cisplatin-like pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties andmechanisms of action (Tiekink, T. R. E. Anicancer Potential of goldcomplexes. Inflammopharmacology. 2008, 16, 138-142; and Ott, I. On themedicinal chemistry of gold complexes as anticancer drugs. Coord. Chem.Rev. 2009, 253, 1670-1681, each incorporated herein by reference intheir entirety). The incorporation of a gold metal center into drugscaffolds offers vast potential for creating promising metal-based drugcandidates with significant cytostatic and/or cytotoxic effects againstvarious cancer cell lines (Ronconi, L.; Giovagnini, L.; Marzano, C.;Bettio, F.; Graziani, R.; Pilloni. G.; Fregona, D. Inorg. Chem. 2005,44, 1867-1881; and Tiekink, T. R. E. Gold compounds in medicine:potential anti-tumor agents. Gold Bull. 2003, 36, 117-124, eachincorporated herein by reference in their entirety). The antirheumaticdrug, auranofin, and a number of its analogs have shown significant invitro and in vivo cytotoxic activity (Messori, L.; Abbate, F.; Marcon,G.; Orioli, P.; Fontani, M.; Mini, E.; Mazzei, T.; Carotti, S.;O'Connell, T.; Zanello, P. Gold(III) complexes as potential antitumoragents: solution chemistry and cytotoxic properties of some selectedgold(III) compounds. J. Med. Chem. 2000, 43, 3541-3548, incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety).

Therefore, the first aspect of the disclosure relates to a gold(I)complex represented by formula (I):

a salt thereof, a solvate thereof, or a combination thereof,where R₁ and R₂ are independently selected from the group consisting ofH, an unsubstituted alkyl, an optionally substituted cycloalkyl, anoptionally substituted cycloalkylalkyl, an optionally substitutedarylalkyl, an optionally substituted heteroaryl, an optionallysubstituted aryl, an optionally substituted heterocyclyl, an optionallysubstituted arylolefin, an optionally substituted C₄-C₁₀ alkenyl, and anoptionally substituted vinyl;R₃, R₄, and R₅ are independently selected from the group consisting ofH, an optionally substituted C₁-C₃ alkyl, an optionally substitutedC₃-C₅ cycloalkyl, an optionally substituted cycloalkylalkyl, anoptionally substituted arylalkyl, an optionally substituted heteroaryl,an optionally substituted aryl, an optionally substituted heterocyclyl,an optionally substituted arylolefin, an optionally substituted vinyl,an optionally substituted alkylamino, an optionally substitutedarylamino, an optionally substituted alkylarylamino, an optionallysubstituted alkoxy, and an optionally substituted aryloxy; andwith the proviso that R₁, R₂, R₃, R₄, and R₅ are not each an ethyl.

In some embodiments, R₁ and R₂ are the same unsubstituted alkyl group,and R₃, R₄, and R₅ are the same optionally substituted C₁-C₃ alkylgroup. In other embodiments, R₁ and R₂ may be methyls, and R₃, R₄, andR₅ are methyls, ethyls, or isopropyls. In one embodiment, R₁ and R₂ maybe are ethyls, and R₃, R₄, and R₅ are methyls. In one embodiment, whenR₃, R₄, and R₅ are ethyls, R₁ and R₂ are not propyls.

The dithiocarbamate ligand may coordinate to the gold(I) ion in amonodentate fashion (as shown in formula (I)), or in a bidentate fashionwith both sulfurs chelating the gold(I) ion. Preferably, thedithiocarbamate coordinates to the gold(I) ion in a monodentate fashion.

The term “solvate” means a physical association of the gold(I) complexof formula (I) with one or more solvent molecules, whether organic orinorganic. This physical association includes hydrogen bonding. Incertain instances the solvate will be capable of isolation, for examplewhen one or more solvent molecules are incorporated in the crystallattice of the crystalline solid. The solvent molecules in the solvatemay be present in a regular arrangement and/or a non-orderedarrangement. The solvate may comprise either a stoichiometric ornon-stoichiometric amount of the solvent molecules. Solvate encompassesboth solution-phase and isolable solvates. Exemplary solvates include,but are not limited to, hydrates, ethanolates, methanolates, andisopropanolates. Methods of solvation are generally known in the art.

The term “pharmaceutically acceptable salt” refers to a protonated formof the gold(I) complex of formula (I) (e.g. an embodiment of the gold(I)complex of formula (I) with a basic substituent, such as an optionallysubstituted amino group, on R₁, R₂, or both) with a counter-ion. As usedherein, the term “counter-ion” refers to an anion, preferably apharmaceutically acceptable anion that is associated with the protonatedform of the gold(I) complex of formula (I). Non-limiting examples ofpharmaceutically acceptable counter-ions include halides, such asfluoride, chloride, bromide, iodide, nitrate, sulfate, phosphate, amide,methanesulfonate, ethanesulfonate, p-toluenesulfonate, salicylate,malate, maleate, succinate, tartrate, citrate, acetate, perchlorate,trifluoromethanesulfonate (triflate), acetylacetonate,hexafluorophosphate, and hexafluoroacetylacetonate. In some embodiments,the counter-ion is a halide, preferably chloride.

The phrase “pharmaceutically acceptable” as used herein refers tocounter-ions, compounds, materials, compositions, and/or dosage formswhich are, within the scope of sound medical judgment, suitable for usein contact with the tissues of human beings and animals withoutexcessive toxicity, irritation, allergic response, or other problem orcomplication, commensurate with a reasonable benefit/risk ratio.Therefore, the composition refers to the combination of an activeingredient with a carrier, inert or active, making the compositionespecially suitable for diagnostic or therapeutic use in vivo or exvivo.

The term “alkyl”, as used herein, unless otherwise specified, refers toa straight, or branched hydrocarbon fragment. Non-limiting examples ofsuch hydrocarbon fragments include methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl,butyl, isobutyl, t-butyl, pentyl, isopentyl, neopentyl, hexyl, isohexyl,3-methylpentyl, 2,2-dimethylbutyl, and 2,3-dimethylbutyl. As usedherein, the term “cyclic hydrocarbon” or “cycloalkyl” refers to acyclized alkyl group. Exemplary cyclic hydrocarbon (i.e. cycloalkyl)groups include, but are not limited to, cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl,cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, norbornyl, and adamantyl. Branched cycloalkylgroups, such as exemplary 1-methylcyclopropyl and 2-methycyclopropylgroups, are included in the definition of cycloalkyl as used in thepresent disclosure. The C₁-C₃ alkyl groups include methyl, ethyl, andpropyl.

The term “alkenyl” refers to a straight, branched, or cyclic hydrocarbonfragment containing at least one C═C double bond. Exemplary alkenylgroups include, without limitation, 1-propenyl, 2-propenyl (or “allyl”),1-butenyl, 2-butenyl, 3-butenyl, 1-pentenyl, 2-pentenyl, 3-pentenyl,4-pentenyl, 1-hexenyl, 2-hexenyl, 3-hexenyl, 4-hexenyl, and 5-hexenyl.Exemplary C₄-C₁₀ alkenyl groups include, without limitation, 1-butenyl,2-butenyl, 3-butenyl, 1-pentenyl, 2-pentenyl, 3-pentenyl, 4-pentenyl,1-hexenyl, 2-hexenyl, 3-hexenyl, 4-hexenyl, 5-hexenyl, 1-heptenyl,2-heptenyl, 3-heptenyl, 4-heptenyl, 5-heptenyl, 6-heptenyl, 1-octenyl,2-octenyl, 3-octenyl, 4-octenyl, 5-octenyl, 6-octenyl, 7-octenyl,1-nonenyl, 2-nonenyl, 3-nonenyl, 4-nonenyl, 5-nonenyl, 6-nonenyl,7-nonenyl, 8-nonenyl, 1-decenyl, 2-decenyl, 3-decenyl, 4-decenyl,5-decenyl, 6-decenyl, 7-decenyl, 8-decenyl, and 9-decenyl. The C₄-C₀alkenyl groups do not include allyl.

The term “aryl”, as used herein, and unless otherwise specified, refersto phenyl, biphenyl, naphthyl, anthracenyl, and the like. The term“heteroaryl” refers to an aryl group where at least one carbon atom isreplaced with a heteroatom (e.g. nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur) and can beindolyl, furyl, imidazolyl, triazolyl, triazinyl, oxazolyl, isoxazolyl,thiazolyl, isothiazolyl, pyrazolyl, pyrrolyl, pyrazinyl, tetrazolyl,pyridyl (or its N-oxide), thienyl, pyrimidinyl (or its N-oxide),1H-indolyl, isoquinolyl (or its N-oxide), or quinolyl (or its N-oxide),for example.

As used herein, the term “substituted” refers to at least one hydrogenatom that is replaced with a non-hydrogen group, provided that normalvalencies are maintained and that the substitution results in a stablecompound. When a compound or a R group (denoted as R₁, R₂, and so forth)is noted as “optionally substituted”, the substituents are selected fromthe exemplary group including, but not limited to, aroyl (as definedhereinafter), halogen (e.g. chlorine, bromine, fluorine or iodine),alkoxy (i.e. straight or branched chain alkoxy having 1 to 10 carbonatoms, and includes, for example, methoxy, ethoxy, propoxy, isopropoxy,butoxy, isobutoxy, secondary butoxy, tertiary butoxy, pentoxy,isopentoxy, hexyloxy, heptyloxy, octyloxy, nonyloxy, and decyloxy),cycloalkyloxy including cyclopentyloxy, cyclohexyloxy, andcycloheptyloxy, aryloxy including phenoxy and phenoxy substituted withhalo, alkyl, alkoxy, and haloalkyl (which refers to straight or branchedchain alkyl having 1 to 8 carbon atoms which are substituted by at leastone halogen, and includes, for example, chloromethyl, bromomethyl,fluoromethyl, iodomethyl, 2-chloroethyl, 2-bromoethyl, 2-fluoroethyl,3-chloropropyl, 3-bromopropyl, 3-fluoropropyl, 4-chlorobutyl,4-fluorobutyl, dichloromethyl, dibromomethyl, difluoromethyl,diiodomethyl, 2,2-dichloroethyl, 2,2-dibromoethyl, 2,2-difluoroethyl,3,3-dichloropropyl, 3,3-difluoropropyl, 4,4-dichlorobutyl,4,4-difluorobutyl, trichloromethyl, trifluoromethyl,2,2,2-tri-fluoroethyl, 2,3,3-trifluoropropyl, 1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethyl,2,2,3,3-tetrafluoropropyl), hydrocarbyl, arylalkyl, hydroxy, alkoxy,oxo, alkanoyl, alkanoyloxy, amino, alkylamino, arylamino,arylalkylamino, disubstituted amines (e.g. in which the two aminosubstituents are selected from the exemplary group including, but notlimited to, alkyl, aryl, or arylalkyl), alkanylamino, arylamino,alkanoylamino, thiol, alkylthio, arylthio, arylalkylthio, alkylthiono,arylthiono, aryalkylthiono, alkylsulfonyl, arylsulfonyl,arylalkylsulfonyl, sulfonamido (e.g. —SO₂NH₂), substituted sulfonamide,nitro, cyano, carboxy, carbamyl (e.g. —CONH₂, —CONHalkyl, —CONHaryl,—CONHarylalkyl or cases where there are two substituents on one nitrogenfrom alkyl, aryl, or arylalkyl), alkoxycarbonyl, aryl, guanidine,heteroarylcarbonyl, heterocyclyl, and mixtures thereof and the like. Thesubstituents may be either unprotected, or protected as necessary, asknown to those skilled in the art, for example, as taught in Greene, etal., “Protective Groups in Organic Synthesis”, John Wiley and Sons,Second Edition, 1991, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety).

As used herein, the term “unsubstituted alkyl” refers to an alkyl groupwhich may be linear or branched and does not have any hydrogen atom thatis replaced with a non-hydrogen group. Exemplary unsubstituted alkylgroup includes, without limitation, methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl,butyl, tert-butyl, sec-butyl, isobutyl, pentyl, and hexyl.

The term “heterocyclyl” as used in this disclosure refers to a 3-8,preferably 4-8, more preferably 4-7 membered monocyclic ring or a fused8-12 membered bicyclic ring which may be saturated or partiallyunsaturated, which monocyclic or bicyclic ring contains 1 to 4heteroatoms selected from oxygen, nitrogen, silicon or sulfur. Examplesof such monocyclic rings include oxaziridinyl, homopiperazinyl,oxiranyl, dioxiranyl, aziridinyl, pyrrolidinyl, azetidinyl,pyrazolidinyl, oxazolidinyl, piperidinyl, piperazinyl, morpholinyl,thiomorpholinyl, thiazolidinyl, hydantoinyl, valerolactamyl, oxiranyl,oxetanyl, dioxolanyl, dioxanyl, oxathiolanyl, oxathianyl, dithianyl,dihydrofuranyl, tetrahydrofuranyl, dihydropyranyl, tetrahydropyranyl,tetrahydropyridyl, tetrahydropyrimidinyl, tetrahydrothiophenyl,tetrahydrothiopyranyl, diazepanyl, and azepanyl. Examples of suchbicyclic rings include indolinyl, isoindolinyl, benzopyranyl,quinuclidinyl, 2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1,3,benzazepine,4-(benzo-1,3,dioxol-5-methyl)piperazine, and tetrahydroisoquinolinyl.Further, “substituted heterocyclyl” may refer to a heterocyclyl ringwhich has one or more oxygen atoms bonded to the ring (i.e. as ringatoms). Preferably, said atom which is bonded to the ring selected fromnitrogen or sulfur. An example of a heterocyclyl substituted with one ormore oxygen atoms is 1,1-dioxido-1,3-thiazolidinyl.

The term “alkylthio” as used in this disclosure refers to a divalentsulfur with alkyl occupying one of the valencies and includes the groupsmethylthio, ethylthio, propylthio, butylthio, pentylthio, hexylthio, andoctylthio.

The term “alkanoyl” as used in this disclosure refers to an alkyl grouphaving 2 to 18 carbon atoms that is bound with a double bond to anoxygen atom. Examples of alkanoyl include, acetyl, propionyl, butyryl,isobutyryl, pivaloyl, valeryl, hexanoyl, octanoyl, lauroyl, andstearoyl.

Examples of aroyl are benzoyl and naphthoyl, and “substituted aroyl” mayrefer to benzoyl or naphthoyl substituted by at least one substituentincluding those selected from halogen, amino, nitro, hydroxy, alkyl,alkoxy and haloalkyl on the benzene or naphthalene ring.

The term “arylalkyl” as used in this disclosure refers to a straight orbranched chain alkyl moiety having 1 to 8 carbon atoms that issubstituted by an aryl group or a substituted aryl group having 6 to 12carbon atoms, and includes benzyl, 2-phenethyl, 2-methylbenzyl,3-methylbenzyl, 4-methylbenzyl, 2,4-dimethylbenzyl,2-(4-ethylphenyl)ethyl, 3-(3-propylphenyl)propyl.

The term “heteroarylcarbonyl” as used in this disclosure refers to aheteroaryl moiety with 5 to 10 membered mono- or fused-heteroaromaticring having at least one heteroatom selected from nitrogen, oxygen andsulfur as mentioned above, and includes, for example, furoyl,nicotinoyl, isonicotinoyl, pyrazolylcarbonyl, imidazolylcarbonyl,pyrimidinylcarbonyl, and benzimidazolyl-carbonyl. Further, “substitutedheteroarylcarbonyl” may refer to the above mentioned heteroarylcarbonylwhich is substituted by at least one substituent selected from halogen,amino, vitro, hydroxy, alkoxy and haloalkyl on the heteroaryl nucleus,and includes, for example, 2-oxo-1,3-dioxolan-4-ylmethyl,2-oxo-1,3-dioxan-5-yl.

Vinyl refers to an unsaturated substituent having at least oneunsaturated double bond and having the formula CH₂═CH—. Accordingly,said “substituted vinyl” may refer to the above vinyl substituent havingat least one of the protons on the terminal carbon atom replaced withalkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, aryl, substituted aryl, heteroarylor substituted heteroaryl.

The term “hydrocarbyl” as used herein refers to a univalent hydrocarbongroup containing up to about 24 carbon atoms (i.e. a group containingonly carbon and hydrogen atoms) and that is devoid of olefinic andacetylenic unsaturation, and includes alkyl, cycloalkyl,alkyl-substituted cycloalkyl, cycloalkyl-substituted cycloalkyl,cycloalkylalkyl, aryl, alkyl-substituted aryl, cycloalkyl-substitutedaryl, arylalkyl, alkyl-substituted aralkyl, and cycloalkyl-substitutedaralkyl. Further, functionally-substituted hydrocarbyl groups may referto a hydrocarbyl group that is substituted by one or more functionalgroups selected from halogen atoms, amino, nitro, hydroxy,hydrocarbyloxy (including alkoxy, cycloalkyloxy, and aryloxy),hydrocarbylthio (including alkylthio, cycloalkylthio, and arylthio),heteroaryl, substituted heteroaryl, alkanoyl, aroyl, substituted aroyl,heteroarylcarbonyl, and substituted heteroarylcarbonyl.

The present disclosure is further intended to include all isotopes ofatoms occurring in the present compounds. Isotopes include those atomshaving the same atomic number but different mass numbers. By way ofgeneral example, and without limitation, isotopes of hydrogen includedeuterium and tritium. Isotopes of carbon include ¹³C and ¹⁴C.Isotopically labeled compounds of the disclosure can generally beprepared by conventional techniques known to those skilled in the art orby processes and methods analogous to those described herein, using anappropriate isotopically labeled reagent in place of the non-labeledreagent otherwise employed.

The gold(I) complex of the first aspect may be prepared by mixing agold(I) precursor with a dithiocarbamate salt. The gold(I) precursor maybe represented by the following formula:

where X is fluoro, chloro, bromo, or iodo.

Exemplary gold(I) precursors include, without limitation,chloro(triethylphosphine)-gold(I), chloro(trimethylphosphine)gold(I),chloro[diphenyl(o-tolyl)phosphine]gold(I),chloro[tri(o-tolyl)phosphine]gold(I),chloro(methyldiphenylphosphine)gold(I),chloro[2-(dicyclohexylphosphino)-biphenyl]gold(I),chloro[2-di-tert-butyl(2′,4′,6′-triisopropylbiphenyl)phosphine] gold(I),chloro[di(1-adamantyl)-2-dimethylaminophenylphosphine]gold(I),chloro(2-dicyclohexyl-phosphino-2′-dimethylaminobiphenyl)gold(I),chloro(trimethylphosphite)gold(I),chloro[(1,1′-biphenyl-2-yl)di-tert-butylphosphine]gold(I),chloro[2-dicyclohexyl(2′,4′,6′-trisopropyl-biphenyl)phosphine]gold(I),chloro[tris(2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorophenyl)-phosphine]gold(I),chloro[tri(p-tolyl)phosphine]gold(I),chloro[2-dicyclohexyl(2′,6′-dimethoxybiphenyl)-phosphine] gold(I),chloro[2-dicyclohexyl(2′,6′;-diisopropoxybiphenyl)-phosphine] gold(I),chloro[2-dicyclohexylphosphino-2′,6′-bis(N,N-dimethylamino)-biphenyl]gold(I),chloro {4-[2-di(1-adamantyl)phosphino]phenylmorpholine}gold(I),chloro(2-di-tert-butylphosphino-3,6-dimethoxy-2′,4′,6′-triisopropylbiphenyl)gold(I),chloro[2-(dicyclohexylphosphino)-3,6-dimethoxy-2′,4′,6′-triisopropyl-1,1′-biphenyl]gold(I),chloro(2-{bis[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)-phenyl]phosphino}-3,6-dimethoxy-2′,4′,6′-triisopropyl-1,1′-biphenyl)gold(I),andchloro(2-di-tert-butylphosphino-3,4,5,6-tetramethyl-2′,4′,6′-triisopropylbiphenyl)gold(I).

The dithiocarbamate salt may be represented by the following formula:

where M⁺ is an alkali metal cation (e.g. sodium, potassium, cesium,lithium, and rubidium), ammonium, an optionally substitutedalkylammonium, an optionally substituted arylammonium, or an optionallysubstituted alkylarylammonium.

Exemplary dithiocarbamate salts include, without limitation, sodiumdimethyldithiocarbamate, potassium dimethyldithiocarbamate, sodiumdiethyldithiocarbamate, and potassium diethyldithiocarbamate.

The dithiocarbamate salt may be dissolved in a solvent to give asolution with a concentration in a range of 0.01-1 M, preferably0.01-0.5 M, more preferably 0.05-0.2 M. A volume of the solvent may bein a range of 1-50 ml, preferably 1-20 ml, more preferably 1-10 ml. Thegold(I) precursor may be suspended in the solvent to give a suspensionwith a concentration in a range of 0.01-0.5 M, preferably 0.01-0.2 M,more preferably 0.01-0.1 M. A volume of the solvent may be in a range of5-100 ml, preferably 5-50 ml, more preferably 10-30 ml. The suspensionmay be cooled to a temperature in a range of −10 to 10° C., preferably−5 to 5° C. under an inert atmosphere provided by nitrogen gas, argongas, helium gas, or combinations thereof. The suspension may be cooledwith an external cooling source such as an ice bath with or withoutsalt, or a thermostatted thermocirculator. The dithiocarbamate saltsolution can be added to the suspension dropwise, and then stirred forabout 1-24 hours, preferably 1-10 hours, more preferably 1-5 hours. Thereaction may be shaken/stirred throughout the duration of the reactionby employing a rotary shaker, a magnetic stirrer, or an overheadstirrer. In another embodiment, the reaction mixture is left to stand(i.e. not stirred). In one embodiment, the reaction mixture ispreferably mixed in a centrifugal mixer with a rotational speed of atleast 500 rpm, preferably at least 800 rpm, more preferably at least1,000 rpm, even though it can also be mixed with a spatula. In oneembodiment, the reaction mixture is sonicated.

The reaction mixture may be then filtered to remove insoluble material.The solvent may be evaporated to give the crude gold(I) complex. Thegold(I) complex may be purified by methods known to those skilled in theart, such as filtration through a celite containing cartridge, aqueouswork-up, extraction with organic solvents, distillation,crystallization, column chromatography, and high pressure liquidchromatography (HPLC) on normal phase or reversed phase. A preferredmethod includes extraction with organic solvents, but is not limited tothose exemplified. The yield of the gold(1) complex is at least 50%,preferably at least 75%, more preferably at least 80%.

As used herein, the term “solvent” includes, but is not limited to,water (e.g. tap water, distilled water, doubly distilled water,deionized water, deionized distilled water), organic solvents, such asethers (e.g. diethyl ether, tetrahydrofuran, 1,4-dioxane,tetrahydropyran, t-butyl methyl ether, cyclopentyl methyl ether,di-iso-propyl ether), glycol ethers (e.g. 1,2-dimethoxyethane, diglyme,triglyme), alcohols (e.g. methanol, ethanol, trifluoroethanol,n-propanol, i-propanol, n-butanol, i-butanol, t-butanol, n-pentanol,i-pentanol, 2-methyl-2-butanol, 2-trifluoromethyl-2-propanol,2,3-dimethyl-2-butanol,3-pentanol, 3-methyl-3-pentanol,2-methyl-3-pentanol, 2-methyl-2-pentanol, 2,3-dimethyl-3-pentanol,3-ethyl-3-pentanol, 2-methyl-2-hexanol, 3-hexanol, cyclopropylmethanol,cyclopropanol, cyclobutanol, cyclopentanol, cyclohexanol), aromaticsolvents (e.g. benzene, o-xylene, m-xylene, p-xylene, and mixtures ofxylenes, toluene, mesitylene, anisole, 1,2-dimethoxybenzene,α,α,α,-trifluoromethylbenzene, fluorobenzene), chlorinated solvents(e.g. chlorobenzene, dichloromethane, 1,2-dichloroethane,1,1-dichloroethane, chloroform), ester solvents (e.g. ethyl acetate,propyl acetate), amide solvents (e.g. dimethylformamide,dimethylacetamide, N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone), urea solvents, ketones (e.g.acetone, butanone), acetonitrile, propionitrile, butyronitrile,benzonitrile, dimethyl sulfoxide, ethylene carbonate, propylenecarbonate, 1,3-dimethyl-3,4,5,6-tetrahydro-2(1H)-pyrimidinone, andmixtures thereof. Preferably, the solvent is methanol.

The second aspect of the disclosure relates to a composition comprisingthe gold(I) complex of the first aspect, the salt thereof, the solvatethereof, or a combination thereof, and a pharmaceutically acceptablecarrier or excipient.

As used herein, a “composition” refers to a mixture of the activeingredient with other chemical components, such as pharmaceuticallyacceptable carriers and excipients.

As used herein, a “pharmaceutically acceptable carrier” refers to acarrier or diluent that does not cause significant irritation to anorganism, does not abrogate the biological activity and properties ofthe administered active ingredient, and/or does not interact in adeleterious manner with the other components of the composition in whichit is contained. The term “carrier” encompasses any excipient, binder,diluent, filler, salt, buffer, solubilizer, lipid, stabilizer, or othermaterial well known in the art for use in pharmaceutical formulations.The choice of a carrier for use in a composition will depend upon theintended route of administration for the composition. The preparation ofpharmaceutically acceptable carriers and formulations containing thesematerials is described in, e.g. Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences,21st Edition, ed. University of the Sciences in Philadelphia,Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia Pa., 2005, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety). Examples ofphysiologically acceptable carriers include buffers such as phosphatebuffers, citrate buffer, and buffers with other organic acids;antioxidants including ascorbic acid; low molecular weight (less thanabout 10 residues) polypeptides; proteins, such as serum albumin,gelatin, or immunoglobulins; hydrophilic polymers such aspolyvinylpyrrolidone; amino acids such as glycine, glutamine,asparagine, arginine or lysine; monosaccharides, disaccharides, andother carbohydrates including glucose, mannose, or dextrins; chelatingagents such as EDTA; sugar alcohols such as mannitol or sorbitol;salt-forming counter-ions such as sodium; and/or nonionic surfactantssuch as TWEEN® (ICI, Inc.; Bridgewater, N.J.), polyethylene glycol(PEG), and PLURONICS™ (BASF; Florham Park, N.J.). An “excipient” refersto an inert substance added to a composition to further facilitateadministration of a compound. Examples, without limitation, ofexcipients include calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, various sugarsand types of starch, cellulose derivatives, gelatin, vegetable oils, andpolyethylene glycols.

As used herein, “derivative” refers to a chemically or biologicallymodified version of a chemical compound that is structurally similar toa parent compound and (actually or theoretically) derivable from thatparent compound. A “derivative” differs from an “analog” in that aparent compound may be the starting material to generate a “derivative”,whereas the parent compound may not necessarily be used as the startingmaterial to generate an “analog”. A derivative may or may not havedifferent chemical or physical properties of the parent compound. Forexample, the derivative may be more hydrophilic or it may have alteredreactivity compared to the parent compound. Derivatization (i.e.modification) may involve substitution of one or more moieties withinthe molecule (e.g. a change in functional group). The term “derivative”also includes conjugates, and prodrugs of a parent compound (i.e.chemically modified derivatives which can be converted into the originalcompound under physiological conditions).

As used herein, the term “analog” refers to a chemical compound that isstructurally similar to a parent compound, but differs slightly incomposition (e.g. at least one atom or functional group is different,added, or removed). The analog may or may not have different chemical orphysical properties than the original compound and may or may not haveimproved biological and/or chemical activity. For example, the analogmay be more hydrophilic or it may have altered reactivity compared tothe parent compound. The analog may mimic the chemical and/or biologicalactivity of the parent compound (i.e. it may have similar or identicalactivity), or, in some cases, may have increased or decreased activity.The analog may be a naturally or non-naturally occurring variant of theoriginal compound. Other types of analogs include isomers (enantiomers,diastereomers, and the like) and other types of chiral variants of acompound, as well as structural isomers.

As used herein, a “binder” holds the ingredients in a tablet together.Binders ensure that tablets and granules can be formed with requiredmechanical strength, and give volume to low active dose tablets. Bindersmay be: (1) saccharides and their derivatives, such as sucrose, lactose,starches, cellulose or modified cellulose such as microcrystallinecellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose, and cellulose ethers such ashydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC), and sugar alcohols such as xylitol,sorbitol or maltitol, (2) proteins such as gelatin, and (3) syntheticpolymers including polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), polyethylene glycol(PEG). Binders are classified according to their application. Solutionbinders are dissolved in a solvent (for example water or alcohol can beused in wet granulation processes). Examples include gelatin, cellulose,cellulose derivatives, polyvinylpyrrolidone, starch, sucrose, andpolyethylene glycol. Dry binders are added to the powder blend, eitherafter a wet granulation step, or as part of a direct powder compression(DC) formula. Examples include cellulose, methyl cellulose,polyvinylpyrrolidone, and polyethylene glycol.

The term “active ingredient”, as used herein, refers to an ingredient inthe composition that is biologically active, for example, the gold(I)complex of formula (I), a salt thereof, and a solvate thereof.

In most embodiments, the composition comprises at least 0.5 wt %, 5 wt%, 10 wt %, 15 wt %, 20 wt %, 25 wt %, 30 wt %, 35 wt %, 40 wt %, 45 wt%, 50 wt %, 55 wt %, 60 wt %, 65 wt %, 70 wt %, 75 wt %, 80 wt %, 85 wt%, 90 wt %, 95 wt %, 99 wt %, or 99.9 wt %, of the gold(I) complex, thepharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, the pharmaceuticallyacceptable solvate thereof, or a combination thereof. The compositionmay comprise 0.01-50 μM, 0.01-30 μM, preferably 0.01-10 μM of thegold(I) complex, relative to the total composition. In some embodiments,the composition comprises up to 0.1 wt %, 1 wt %, 5 wt %, or 10 wt % ofthe pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. In some embodiments, thecomposition comprises up to 0.1 wt %, 1 wt %, 5 wt %, or 10 wt % of thepharmaceutically acceptable solvate thereof. Preferably, the compositionmay further comprise pharmaceutically acceptable binders, such assucrose, lactose, xylitol, and pharmaceutically acceptable excipientssuch as calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, and dimethyl sulfoxide(DMSO).

In one embodiment, the composition is used for treating cancer andfurther comprises a second active ingredient, such as a chemotherapeuticagent, for the treatment or prevention of neoplasm, of tumor or cancercell division, growth, proliferation and/or metastasis in the subject;induction of death or apoptosis of tumor and/or cancer cells; and/or anyother form of proliferative disorder.

Exemplary chemotherapeutic agents include, without limitation,aflibercept, asparaginase, bleomycin, busulfan, carmustine,chlorambucil, cladribine, cyclophosphamide, cytarabine, dacarbazine,daunorubicin, doxorubicin, etoposide, fludarabine, gemcitabine,hydroxyurea, idarubicin, ifosfamide, irinotecan, lomustine,mechlorethamine, melphalan, mercaptopurine, methotrexate, mitomycin,mitoxantrone, pentostatin, procarbazine, topotecan, vinblastine,vincristine, retinoic acid, oxaliplatin, carboplatin, 5-fluorouracil,teniposide, amasacrine, docetaxel, paclitaxel, vinorelbine, bortezomib,clofarabine, capecitabine, actinomycin D, epirubicin, vindesine,methotrexate, 6-thioguanine, tipifarnib, imatinib, erlotinib, sorafenib,sunitinib, dasatinib, nilotinib, lapatinib, gefitinib, temsirolimus,everolimus, rapamycin, bosutinib, pzopanib, axitinib, neratinib,vatalanib, pazopanib, midostaurin, enzastaurin, trastuzumab, cetuximab,panitumumab, rituximab, bevacizumab, mapatumumab, conatumumab, andlexatumumab. The composition may comprise 0.1-50 wt % of the secondactive ingredient, preferably 10-40 wt %, more preferably 10-20 wt %,relative to the weight of the first active ingredient.

The third aspect of the disclosure relates to a method for treatingcancer, comprising administering the composition of the second aspect toa subject in need thereof.

As used herein, the terms “treat”, “treatment”, and “treating” in thecontext of the administration of a therapy to a subject in need thereofrefer to the reduction or inhibition of the progression and/or durationof a disease, the reduction or amelioration of the severity of thedisease, and/or the amelioration of one or more symptoms thereofresulting from the administration of one or more therapies. “Treating”or “treatment” of the disease includes preventing the disease fromoccurring in a subject that may be predisposed to the disease but doesnot yet experience or exhibit symptoms of the disease (prophylactictreatment), inhibiting the disease (slowing or arresting itsdevelopment), ameliorating the disease, providing relief from thesymptoms or side-effects of the disease (including palliativetreatment), and relieving the disease (causing regression of thedisease). With regard to the disease, these terms simply mean that oneor more of the symptoms of the disease will be reduced. Such terms mayrefer to one, two, three, or more results following the administrationof one, two, three, or more therapies: (1) a stabilization, reduction(e.g. by more than 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, preferably by more than 60%of the population of cancer cells and/or tumor size beforeadministration), or elimination of the cancer cells, (2) inhibitingcancerous cell division and/or cancerous cell proliferation, (3)relieving to some extent (or, preferably, eliminating) one or moresymptoms associated with a pathology related to or caused in part byunregulated or aberrant cellular division, (4) an increase indisease-free, relapse-free, progression-free, and/or overall survival,duration, or rate, (5) a decrease in hospitalization rate, (6) adecrease in hospitalization length, (7) eradication, removal, or controlof primary, regional and/or metastatic cancer, (8) a stabilization orreduction (e.g. by at least 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%,preferably at least 80% relative to the initial growth rate) in thegrowth of a tumor or neoplasm, (9) an impairment in the formation of atumor, (10) a reduction in mortality, (11) an increase in the responserate, the durability of response, or number of patients who respond orare in remission, (12) the size of the tumor is maintained and does notincrease or increases by less than 10%, preferably less than 5%,preferably less than 4%, preferably less than 2%, (13) a decrease in theneed for surgery (e.g. colectomy, mastectomy), and (14) preventing orreducing (e.g. by more than 10%, more than 30%, preferably by more than60% of the population of metastasized cancer cells beforeadministration) the metastasis of cancer cells.

The terms “patient”, “subject”, and “individual” are usedinterchangeably. As used herein, they refer to individuals sufferingfrom a disease and encompass mammals. None of the terms require that theindividual be under the care and/or supervision of a medicalprofessional. Mammals are any member of the mammalian class, includingbut are not limited to humans, non-human primates, such as chimpanzees,and other apes and monkey species, farm animals, such as cattle, horses,sheep, goats, swine, domestic animals, such as rabbits, dogs, and cats,laboratory animals including rodents, such as rats, mice and guineapigs, and the like. In preferred embodiments, the subject is a human.

A subject in need of treatment includes a subject already with thedisease, a subject which does not yet experience or exhibit symptoms ofthe disease, and a subject predisposed to the disease. In preferredembodiments, the subject is a person who is predisposed to cancer, e.g.a person with a family history of cancer. White women or a person with(i) certain inherited genes (e.g. mutated BRCA1, BRCA2, ATM, TP53,CHEK2, PTEN, CDH1, STK11, and PALB2), (ii) radiation to one's chest,and/or (iii) exposure to diethylstilbestrol (DES), are at a higher riskof contracting breast cancer.

Dithiocarbamates are bidentate S,S′-chelating ligands that possess anextraordinary ability to form stable coordination complexes with metalions due to the “chelation effect”. Therefore, dithiocarbamate unitstethered to gold(I) phosphine motifs may be able to prevent dissociationof the metal ion and interactions of the metal ion withsulfur-containing proteins, thereby reducing renal toxicity (Bodenner,D. L.; Dedon, P. C.; Keng, D. C.; Borch, R. F. Effect ofdiethyldithiocarbamate on cis-diaminedichloroplatinum(II)-inducedcytotoxicity, DNA cross linking, and γ-glutamyl transpeptidaseinhibition. Cancer Res. 1986, 4, 2745-2750; and Fregona, D.; Giovagnini,L.; Ronconi, L.; Marzano, C.; Trevisan, A.; Sitran, S.; Biondi, B.;Bordin, F. Pt(II) and Pd(II) derivatives oftributylsarcosinedithiocarbamate: Synthesis, chemical and biologicalcharacterization and in vitro nephrotoxicity. J. Inorg. Biochem. 2003,93, 181-189, each incorporated herein by reference in their entirety).

Thus, in at least one embodiment, the subject refers to a cancer patientwith an existing renal disease. Examples of renal disease include,without limitation, autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease,autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease, acute pre-renal kidneyfailure, acute intrinsic kidney failure, chronic pre-renal kidneyfailure, chronic intrinsic kidney failure, and chronic post-renal kidneyfailure.

In another embodiment, the subject refers to a cancer patient who havebeen previously administered/treated with cisplatin and have cisplatinresistance (for example in the form of high ERCC1 mRNA levels,overexpression of HER-2/neu, activation of the PI3-K/Akt pathway, lossof p53 function, and/or overexpression of antiapoptotic bcl-2).

The neoplastic activity of the tumor or cancer cells may be localized orinitiated in one or more of the following: blood, brain, bladder, lung,cervix, ovary, colon, rectum, pancreas, skin, prostate gland, stomach,intestine, breast, liver, spleen, kidney, head, neck, testicle, bone(including bone marrow), thyroid gland, and central nervous system.Preferably, the composition may be used to treat breast cancer. In someembodiments, the composition is used to treat cisplatin-resistant breastcancer.

In treating certain cancers, the best approach is a combination ofsurgery, radiotherapy, and/or chemotherapy. Therefore, in at least oneembodiment, the composition is employed with radiotherapy. In anotherembodiment, the composition is employed with surgery. The radiotherapyand/or surgery may be before or after the composition is administered.

The methods for treating cancer and other proliferative disordersdescribed herein inhibit, remove, eradicate, reduce, regress, diminish,arrest or stabilize a cancerous tumor, including at least one of thetumor growth, tumor cell viability, tumor cell division andproliferation, tumor metabolism, blood flow to the tumor and metastasisof the tumor. In some embodiments, the size of a tumor, whether byvolume, weight or diameter, is reduced after the treatment by at least5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%,95%, 99%, or 100%, relative to the tumor size before treatment. In otherembodiments, the size of a tumor after treatment does not reduce but ismaintained the same as the tumor size before treatment. Methods ofassessing tumor size include but are not limited to CT scan, MRI,DCE-MRI and PET scan.

As used herein, the terms “therapies” and “therapy” can refer to anymethod, composition, and/or active ingredient that can be used in thetreatment and/or management of the disease or one or more symptomsthereof. In some embodiments, the method for treating the diseaseinvolves the administration of a unit dosage or a therapeuticallyeffective amount of the active ingredient to a subject in need thereof.

The terms “effective amount”, “therapeutically effective amount”, or“pharmaceutically effective amount” refer to that amount of the activeingredient being administered which will relieve to some extent one ormore of the symptoms of the disease being treated. The result can bereduction and/or alleviation of the signs, symptoms, or causes of adisease, or any other desired alteration of a biological system. Forexample, an “effective amount” for therapeutic uses is the amount of thegold(I) complex of formula (I), the salt thereof, the solvate thereof,or a combination thereof as disclosed herein required to provide aclinically significant decrease in a disease. An appropriate “effectiveamount” may differ from one individual to another. An appropriate“effective amount” in any individual case may be determined usingtechniques, such as a dose escalation study.

The dosage and treatment duration are dependent on factors, such asbioavailability of a drug, administration mode, toxicity of a drug,gender, age, lifestyle, body weight, the use of other drugs and dietarysupplements, the disease stage, tolerance and resistance of the body tothe administered drug, etc., and then determined and adjustedaccordingly. In at least one embodiment, the gold(I) complex of formula(I), the salt thereof, the solvate thereof, or the combination thereofis administered in an effective amount in a range of 1-100 mg/kg basedon the weight of the subject, preferably 10-80 mg/kg, more preferably20-50 mg/kg.

One purpose of a composition is to facilitate administration of thegold(I) complex of formula (I), the salt thereof, the solvate thereof,and a combination thereof to a subject. Depending on the intended modeof administration (oral, parenteral, or topical), the composition can bein the form of solid, semi-solid or liquid dosage forms, such astablets, suppositories, pills, capsules, powders, liquids, orsuspensions, preferably in unit dosage form suitable for singleadministration of a precise dosage.

The composition thereof may be administered in a single dose or multipleindividual divided doses. In some embodiments, the composition isadministered at various dosages (e.g. a first dose with an effectiveamount of 50 mg/kg and a second dose with an effective amount of 10mg/kg). In some embodiments, the interval of time between theadministration of the composition and the administration of one or moreadditional therapies may be about 1-5 minutes, 1-30 minutes, 30 minutesto 60 minutes, 1 hour, 1-2 hours, 2-6 hours, 2-12 hours, 12-24 hours,1-2 days, 2 days, 3 days, 4 days, 5 days, 6 days, 7 days, 1 week, 2weeks, 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 5 weeks, 6 weeks, 7 weeks, 8 weeks, 9 weeks, 10weeks, 15 weeks, 20 weeks, 26 weeks, 52 weeks, 11-15 weeks, 15-20 weeks,20-30 weeks, 30-40 weeks, 40-50 weeks, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, 4months, 5 months, 6 months, 7 months, 8 months, 9 months, 10 months, 11months, 12 months, 1 year, 2 years, or any period of time in between.Preferably, the composition is administered once daily for at least 2days, 5 days, 6 days, or 7 days. In certain embodiments, the compositionand one or more additional therapies are administered less than 1 day, 1week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 4 weeks, one month, 2 months, 3 months, 6months, 1 year, 2 years, or 5 years apart.

The terms “administer”, “administering”, “administration”, and the like,as used herein, refer to the methods that may be used to enable deliveryof the active ingredient and/or the composition to the desired site ofbiological action. Routes or modes of administration are as set forthherein. These methods include, but are not limited to, oral routes,intraduodenal routes, parenteral injection (including intravenous,subcutaneous, intraperitoneal, intramuscular, intravascular, orinfusion), topical and rectal administration. Those of ordinary skill inthe art are familiar with administration techniques that can be employedwith the compounds and methods described herein. In preferredembodiments, the active ingredient and/or the composition describedherein are administered orally.

In other embodiments, the composition has various release rates (e.g.controlled release or immediate release). Immediate release refers tothe release of an active ingredient substantially immediately uponadministration. In another embodiment, immediate release occurs whenthere is dissolution of an active ingredient within 1-20 minutes afteradministration. Dissolution can be of all or less than all (e.g. about70%, about 75%, about 80%, about 85%, about 90%, about 91%, about 92%,about 93%, about 94%, about 95%, about 96%, about 97%, about 98%, about99%, about 99.5%, 99.9%, or 99.99%) of the active ingredient. In anotherembodiment, immediate release results in complete or less than completedissolution within about 1 hour following administration. Dissolutioncan be in a subject's stomach and/or intestine. In one embodiment,immediate release results in dissolution of an active ingredient within1-20 minutes after entering the stomach. For example, dissolution of100% of an active ingredient can occur in the prescribed time. Inanother embodiment, immediate release results in complete or less thancomplete dissolution within about 1 hour following rectaladministration. In some embodiments, immediate release is throughinhalation, such that dissolution occurs in a subject's lungs.

Controlled-release, or sustained-release, refers to the release of anactive ingredient from a composition or dosage form in which the activeingredient is released over an extended period of time. In oneembodiment, controlled-release results in dissolution of an activeingredient within 20-180 minutes after entering the stomach. In anotherembodiment, controlled-release occurs when there is dissolution of anactive ingredient within 20-180 minutes after being swallowed. Inanother embodiment, controlled-release occurs when there is dissolutionof an active ingredient within 20-180 minutes after entering theintestine. In another embodiment, controlled-release results insubstantially complete dissolution after at least 1 hour followingadministration. In another embodiment, controlled-release results insubstantially complete dissolution after at least 1 hour following oraladministration. In another embodiment, controlled-release results insubstantially complete dissolution after at least 1 hour followingrectal administration. In one embodiment, the composition is not acontrolled-release composition.

Solid dosage forms for oral administration can include capsules,tablets, pills, powders, and granules. In such solid dosage forms, theactive ingredient is ordinarily combined with one or more adjuvantsappropriate to the indicated route of administration. If administeredper os, the active ingredient can be admixed with lactose, sucrose,starch powder, cellulose esters of alkanoic acids, cellulose alkylesters, talc, stearic acid, magnesium stearate, magnesium oxide, sodiumand calcium salts of phosphoric and sulfuric acids, gelatin, acacia gum,sodium alginate, polyvinylpyrrolidone, and/or polyvinyl alcohol, andthen tableted or encapsulated for convenient administration. Suchcapsules or tablets can contain a controlled-release formulation as canbe provided in a dispersion of active compound in hydroxypropylmethylcellulose. In the case of capsules, tablets, and pills, the dosage formscan also comprise buffering ingredients such as sodium citrate,magnesium or calcium carbonate or bicarbonate. Tablets and pills canadditionally be prepared with enteric coatings.

Liquid dosage forms for oral administration can include pharmaceuticallyacceptable emulsions, solutions, suspensions, syrups, and elixirscontaining inert diluents commonly used in the art, such as water. Suchcompositions can also comprise adjuvants, such as wetting ingredients,emulsifying and suspending ingredients, and sweetening, flavoring, andperfuming ingredients.

For therapeutic purposes, formulations for parenteral administration canbe in the form of aqueous or non-aqueous isotonic sterile injectionsolutions or suspensions. The term “parenteral”, as used herein,includes intravenous, intravesical, intraperitoneal, subcutaneous,intramuscular, intralesional, intracranial, intrapulmonal, intracardial,intrasternal, and sublingual injections, or infusion techniques. Thesesolutions and suspensions can be prepared from sterile powders orgranules having one or more of the carriers or diluents mentioned foruse in the formulations for oral administration. The active ingredientcan be dissolved in water, polyethylene glycol, propylene glycol,ethanol, corn oil, cottonseed oil, peanut oil, sesame oil, benzylalcohol, sodium chloride, and/or various buffers. Other adjuvants andmodes of administration are well and widely known in the pharmaceuticalart.

Injectable preparations, for example, sterile injectable aqueous oroleaginous suspensions can be formulated according to the known artusing suitable dispersing or wetting ingredients and suspendingingredients. The sterile injectable preparation can also be a sterileinjectable solution or suspension in a non-toxic parenterally acceptablediluent or solvent, for example, as a solution in 1,3-butanediol. Amongthe acceptable vehicles and solvents that can be employed are water,Ringer's solution, and isotonic sodium chloride solution. In addition,sterile, fixed oils are conventionally employed as a solvent orsuspending medium. For this purpose any bland fixed oil can be employedincluding synthetic mono- or diglycerides. In addition, fatty acids,such as oleic acid, find use in the preparation of injectables. Dimethylacetamide, surfactants including ionic and non-ionic detergents,polyethylene glycols can be used. Mixtures of solvents and wettingingredients such as those discussed above are also useful.

Suppositories for rectal administration can be prepared by mixing theactive ingredient with a suitable non-irritating excipient, such ascocoa butter, synthetic mono-, di-, or triglycerides, fatty acids, andpolyethylene glycols that are solid at ordinary temperatures but liquidat the rectal temperature and will therefore melt in the rectum andrelease the drug.

Topical administration can also involve the use of transdermaladministration such as transdermal patches or iontophoresis devices.Formulation of drugs is discussed in, for example, Hoover, John E.,Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mack Publishing Co., Easton, Pa.,1975. Another example of includes Liberman, H. A. and Lachman, L., Eds.,Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms, Marcel Decker, New York, N.Y., 1980, whichis incorporated herein by reference in its entirety).

In one embodiment, the IC₅₀ is in a range of 0.01-100 μM, preferably0.01-80 μM, more preferably 0.04-70 μM. As used herein, the term “IC₅₀”refers to a concentration of the gold(I) complex of formula (I), thesalt thereof, or the solvate thereof, which causes the death of 50% ofcancer cells in 72 hours (3 days).

The IC₅₀ can be determined by standard cell viability assays, such as,without limitation, ATP test, Calcein AM assay, clonogenic assay,ethidium homodimer assay, Evans blue assay, Fluorescein diacetatehydrolysis/propidium iodide staining assay, flow cytometry assay,formazan-based assays (MTT, XTT), green fluorescent protein assay,lactate dehydrogenase assay, methyl violet assay, propidium iodideassay, Resazurin assay, Trypan Blue assay and TUNEL assay. In apreferred embodiment, a XTT assay is used.

In at least one embodiment, the human cancer cells are derived fromcommercial cell lines, including but are not limited to HeLa cervicalcancer cells, A549 lung cancer cells, HCT15 colon cancer cells, HCT8 orHRT8 colon cancer cells, HCT116 colon cancer cells, DLD1 colon cancercells, MCF7 breast cancer cells, MDA-MB231 breast cancer cells, A2780ovarian cancer cells, HePG2 liver cancer cells, and DU145 prostaticcancer cells. In some embodiments, cisplatin-resistant cancer cells areused. These cells may be cultured with low doses of cisplatin in orderto build resistance to cisplatin while maintaining cell viability.Examples of cisplatin-resistant cancer cells include, but are notlimited to, A2780-cis cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cells andSGC7901-cis cisplatin-resistant gastrointestinal cancer cells. In otherembodiments, the human cancer cells are cancer cells of a human patientwho has been diagnosed with, is suspected of having, or is susceptibleto or at risk of having at least one form of cancer, preferably breastcancer.

In most embodiments, the method further comprises measuring aconcentration of a biomarker and/or detecting a mutation in a biomarkerbefore and/or after the composition is administered. As used herein, theterm “biomarker” refers to a characteristic that is objectively measuredand evaluated as an indicator of normal biological processes, pathogenicprocesses or pharmacological responses to a therapeutic intervention.Exemplary cancer biomarkers for breast cancer include, withoutlimitation, BRCA1, BRCA2, HER-2, estrogen receptor, progesteronereceptor, cancer antigen 15-3, cancer antigen 27.29, carcinoembryonicantigen, Ki67, cyclin D1, cyclin E, and ERβ. Specifically, potentiallypredictive cancer biomarkers include, without limitation, mutations ingenes BRCA1 and BRCA2 for breast cancer. Cancer biomarkers may be usefulin determining the aggressiveness of an identified cancer as well as itslikelihood of responding to the treatment. Examples of such prognosticbiomarkers include, without limitation, elevated expression of estrogenreceptor (ER) and/or progesterone receptor (PR), which are associatedwith better overall survival in patients with breast cancer.

The mutation in the biomarker may be detected with a polymerase chainreaction (PCR) assay, DNA microarray, multiplex ligation-dependent probeamplification (MLPA), single strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP),denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), heteroduplex analysis,and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). The procedures todetect the mutation are well-known to those of ordinary skill in theart.

The concentration of the biomarker may be measured with an assay, forexample an antibody-based method (e.g. an ELISA).

As used herein, the term “antibody-based method” refers to any methodwith the use of an antibody including, but not limited to, enzyme-linkedimmunosorbent assay (ELISA), Western blotting, immunoprecipitation (IP),enzyme linked immunospot (ELISPOT), immunostaining,immunohistochemistry, immunocytochemistry, affinity chromatography, andthe like.

Preferably, an ELISA is used. The term “ELISA” refers to a method ofdetecting the presence and concentration of a biomarker in a sample.There are several variants of ELISA, including, but not limited to,sandwich ELISA, competitive ELISA, indirect ELISA, ELISA reverse, andthe like. The ELISA assay may be a singleplex assay or a multiplexassay, which refers to a type of assay that simultaneously measuresmultiple analytes in a single run/cycle of the assay. Preferably, asandwich ELISA is used.

The protocol for measuring the concentration of the biomarker and/ordetecting the mutation in the biomarker is known to those of ordinaryskill, for example by performing the steps outlined in the commerciallyavailable assay kit sold by Sigma-Aldrich, Thermo Fisher Scientific, R &D Systems, ZeptoMetrix Inc., Cayman Inc., Abcam, Trevigen, DojindoMolecular Technologies, Biovision, and Enzo Life Sciences.

The term “sample” includes any biological sample taken from the subjectincluding a cell, tissue sample, or body fluid. For example, a samplemay include a skin sample, a cheek cell sample, saliva, or blood cells.A sample can include, without limitation, a single cell, multiple cells,fragments of cells, an aliquot of a body fluid, whole blood, platelets,serum, plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells, endothelial cells,tissue biopsies, synovial fluid, and lymphatic fluid. In someembodiments, the sample is taken from a tumor.

In some embodiments, the concentration of the biomarker is measuredbefore and after the administration. When the concentration of thebiomarker is maintained, the method may further comprise increasing theeffective amount of the gold(I) complex of formula (I), the saltthereof, the solvate thereof, or the combination thereof by at least 5%,at least 10%, or at least 30%, up to 50%, up to 60%, or up to 80% of aninitial effective amount that is in a range of 1-100 mg/kg based on theweight of the subject. The increased effective amount may be in a rangeof 1.05-180 mg/kg, preferably 15-140 mg/kg, more preferably 25-90 mg/kg.The subject may be administered with the increased dosage for a longerperiod (e.g. 1 week more, 2 weeks more, or 2 months more) than theduration with the initial effective amount.

In some embodiments, the mutation in the biomarker is detected beforeadministrating the composition to identify subjects predisposed to thedisease. For example, women with a BRCA1 germline mutation are at ahigher risk of contracting breast and ovarian cancer.

In some embodiments, the biomarkers are measured/detected after eachadministration. For example, the measurement may be 1-5 minutes, 1-30minutes, 30-60 minutes, 1-2 hours, 2-12 hours, 12-24 hours, 1-2 days,1-15 weeks, 15-20 weeks, 20-30 weeks, 30-40 weeks, 40-50 weeks, 1 year,2 years, or any period of time in between after the administration.

In some embodiments, the administration is stopped once the subject istreated.

Having generally described this disclosure, a further understanding canbe obtained by reference to certain specific examples which are providedherein for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to belimiting unless otherwise specified.

Example 1 Materials and Methods

Ethidium bromide (EB), sodium N,N-dimethyldithiocarbamate hydrate(DMDT), and sodium N,N-diethyldithiocarbamate hydrate (DEDT) werepurchased from Sigma-Aldrich. Tris-(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (Trisbuffer) (Merck), adenosine-5′-monophosphate disodium salt (5′-AMP),cytidine-5′-monophosphate disodium salt hydrate (5′-CMP),guanosine-5′-monophosphate disodium salt (5′-GMP),thymine-5′-monophosphate (5′-TMP), and CH₃OH were obtained from FlukaChemicals Co. and were stored at −20° C. Disodium salt of CT-DNA (calfthymus DNA) was purchased from Sigma Chem. Co. and was stored at 4° C.All reagents as well as solvents were used as received. Human breastcancer cell lines, MDA-MB231 and MCF7, were provided by American TypeCulture Collection (ATCC). Cells were cultured in Dulbecco's ModifiedEagle Medium (DMEM) supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum (FCS),penicillin (100 kU L⁻¹) and streptomycin (0.1 g L⁻¹) at 37° C. in a 5%CO₂-95% air atmosphere. MTT(3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide), a yellowtetrazole, was purchased from Sigma Chemical Co, St. Louis, Mo., USA.

Example 2 Synthesis of Therapeutic Gold(I) Complexes

Following the previous studies on mixed phosphine gold(I)dithiocarbamate compounds with antitumor activity and in continuation ofthe interest in the synthesis of gold(I) complexes to better understandthe chemical and physical behavior of biologically relevantdithiocarmato(phosphine)gold(I) complexes, gold(I) complexes 1-5 weresynthesized and fully characterized by elemental analysis, FTIR, NMRmeasurements and UV-Vis spectroscopic techniques (Altaf, M.;Monim-ul-Mehboob, M.; Seliman, A. A.; Sohail, M.; Wazeer, I. M.; Isab,A. A.; Li, L.; Dhuna, V.; Bhatia, G.; Dhuna, K. Synthesis,Characterization and anticancer activity of gold(I) complexes thatcontain tri-teri-butylphosphine and dialkyldithiocarbamate ligands. Eur.J. Med. Chem. 2015, 95, 464-472; and Altaf, M.; Monim-ul-Mehboob, M.;Isab, A. A.; Bhatia, G.; Dhuna, K.; Altuwaijri, S. The synthesis,spectroscopic characterization and anticancer activity of new mono andbinuclear phosphinegold(I) dithiocarbamate complexes. New J. Chem. 2015,39, 377-385, each incorporated herein by reference in their entirety).

Mixed ligands gold(I) complexes (dithiocarbamato(phosphane)gold(I)) 1-5were synthesized according to a method similar to the synthesis reportedin the literature (Al-Sa'ady, K.; McAuliffe, A. C.; Parish, V. R.;Sandbank, A. J. A General Synthesis for Gold(I) Complexes. Inorg. Synth.1985, 23, 191-194, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety).

To a stirred suspension of chlorotrialkyl(phosphine)gold(I) (0.50 mmol)in methanol (20 ml), cooled at 0° C. in an ice-bath under atmosphericnitrogen gas flow, a solution of sodium dimethyldithiocarbamate (DMDT)or sodium diethyldithiocarbamate (DEDT) (0.50 mmol) in 5 ml of methanolwas added dropwise. Rapidly, the solid was dissolved and the resultingyellow or orange solution was stirred for about 2 h. Then, the solutionwas filtered to remove insoluble materials. Evaporation of methanol atroom temperature afforded a yellow or orange solid which was dissolvedin diethyl ether (10 ml). To remove the byproduct, sodium chloride, theorganic layer was washed with water and extracted, dried with anhydrousNa₂SO₄ and filtered. Complete removal of the solvent afforded gold(I)complexes 1-5 as a yellow or orange solid. The gold(I) complex was driedunder reduced pressure at room temperature overnight over P₂O₅. Theyield of the compounds 1-5 was in the range of 81-86%. Elementalanalysis for complexes is presented in Table 1. The complexes preparedin the present disclosure were characterized by their physicalproperties, UV-Vis spectroscopy NMR, IR, elemental analysis, and X-raycrystallography. The density functional calculations (DFC) studies basedhybrid B3LYP was also performed to optimize the structures of gold(I)complex 1. All the data support the formation of the desired complexes1-5.

TABLE 1 Elemental analysis of gold(I) complexes 1-5 Found (Calculated) %Complex % C % H % N % S (Me)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂) (1) 18.26 (18.32) 3.86(3.84) 3.48 (3.56) 16.23 (16.32) (Et)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂) (2) 24.75 (24.83)4.90 (4.86) 3.18 (3.22) 14.76 (14.73) (Me)₃PAu(S₂CN{Et}₂) (3) 22.65(22.81) 4.59 (4.55) 3.30 (3.32) 15.17 (15.22) (Et)₃PAu(S₂CN{Et}₂) (4)28.43 (28.51) 4.51 (5.44) 2.98 (3.02) 13.61 (13.84)(i-Pr)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂) (5) 30.01 (30.19) 5.74 (5.70) 2.88 (2.93) 13.32(13.43)

Example 3 Electronic Spectra

Electronic spectra were obtained for the gold(I) complexes using Lambda200, Perkin-Elmer UV-Vis spectrometer. UV-Vis spectroscopy was used todetermine the stability of the complexes in DMSO. Electronic spectrawere recorded on freshly prepared samples of each complex in a buffer atroom temperature. The resulting UV-Vis absorption data are shown inTable 2.

TABLE 2 λ_(max) values derived from UV-Vis spectra for Au(I) complexes1-5 Complex λ_(max) (nm) (Me)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂) (1) 270, 321(Et)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂) (2) 270, 320 (Me)₃PAu(S₂CN{Et}₂) (3) 270, 321(Et)₃PAu(S₂CN{Et}₂) (4) 272, 333 (i-Pr)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂) (5) 270, 322

The optical electronic absorption spectra show a similar pattern for allof the complexes. The gold(I) complexes 1-5 absorbed intensely at tworegions, 270-272 nm and 321-333 nm, which were attributed to theintramolecular intraligand transition corresponding to π→π* in the NCSand CSS moieties, respectively (Yang, Y.; Zuo, B.; Li, J.; G. Chen, G.Studies on the stability of four-membered ring chelates Part V. Thestability of dialkyl dithiocarbamate chelates. Spectrachim. Acta Part A.1996, 52 1915-1919; Liao, Q. Q.; Wang, Y. Z.; Li, J. Y.; Xiang, B.;Cheng, M. R.; Zhang, J. Q. Spectra study of a sodiumtriethylenetetramine-bisdithiocarbamate and its complexes with heavymetal ions. Spectrosc. Spectr. Anal. 2009, 29, 829-832; and Jia, Y. Y.;Gao, Y. B.; Lu, L.; Wang, N. X.; Xu, M. X. Flocculation mechanism andoil removal performance of dithiocarbamate. China Environ. Sci. 2009,29, 201-206, each incorporated herein by reference in their entirety).This result indicates that partial double bonds exist in the N—C group,which supports the monodentate complexation of the dithiocarbamate tothe gold(I) ion.

Example 4 Mid and Far-IR Studies

The IR spectra of the dithiocarbamate ligands and thedithiocarbamato(phosphane)gold(I) complexes were recorded on aPerkin-Elmer FTIR 180 spectrophotometer using KBr pellets over 4000-400cm⁻¹. Far-infrared spectra were recorded for complexes 1-5 as cesiumchloride disks at a 4 cm⁻¹ resolution at room temperature on a Nicolet6700 FT-IR with Far-IR beam splitter. The most significant bandsrecorded in the FTIR spectra of the dithiocarbamate ligand and gold(I)complexes 1-5 are reported in Tables 3 and 4.

TABLE 3 IR frequencies, υ (cm⁻¹) for complexes 1-5 Complex υ (C—NNS)υ_(shift) υ (SC═S) υ_(shift) υ (SC—S) υ_(shift) NaS₂CN{Me}₂ 1487 s —1043 s — 963 s — NaS₂CN{Et}₂ 1457 s — 1064 s — 986 s —(Me)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂) (1) 1501 s 14  974 s −69 958 s −5(Et)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂) (2) 1476 s 19  986 s −78 951 s −35(Me)₃PAu(S₂CN{Et}₂) (3) 1492 s 35  996 s −47 973 s −10(Et)₃PAu(S₂CN{Et}₂) (4) 1485 s 28 1002 −62 984 s −2(i-Pr)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂) (5) 1503 s 16 1029 −14 977 s −9

TABLE 4 FT-IR frequencies, υ (cm⁻¹) for complexes 1-5 Compound υ(Au—S)υ(Au—P) (Me)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂) (1) 289 199 (Et)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂) (2) 278 202(Me)₃PAu(S₂CN{Et}₂) (3) 272 198 (Et)₃PAu(S₂CN{Et}₂) (4) 276 201(i-Pr)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂) (5) 277 195

The FTIR spectra was analyzed to determine the mode of coordination andto evaluate the nature of bonding in the complexes. In examining theinfrared spectra of dithiocarbamate complexes, the three main regions ofinterest are: (1) 1580-1450 cm⁻¹ due to v(C—N) stretching vibrations,(2) 1060-940 cm⁻¹ due to v(C—S), and (3) 430-250 cm⁻¹ due to the v(M-S)(Ajibadel, A. P.; Idemudial, G. O.; Okoh, I. A. Synthesis,characterization and antibacterial studies of metal complexes ofsulfadiazine with n-alkyl-n-phenyldithiocarbamate. Bull. Chem. Soc.Ethiop. 2013, 27, 77-84, incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety).

The dithiocarbamate compounds 1-5 exhibited a characteristic band in therange 1476-1507 cm⁻¹ that was assigned to the N—CSS stretching mode:this band indicates a carbon-nitrogen bond order that is between asingle bond (1250-1350 cm⁻¹) and a double bond (1640-1690 cm⁻¹) (S.Wajda, K. Drabent, Bull. Acad. Polon. Sci., Sci. Chim. 25 (1977) 963; N.Nakamoto, J. Fujita, R. A. Condrote, Y. Morimoto, J. Chem. Phys. 39(1963) 42; Durgaprasad, G.; Sathyanarayana, N. D.; Patel, C. C. Normalcoordinate analysis of dialkyldithiocarbamate and its selenium analogue.Can. J. Chem. 1969, 47, 631-635; and Odola, J. A.; Woods, O. A. J. NewNickel(II) Mixed Ligand Complexes of Dithiocarbamates with Schiff Base.J. Chem. Pharm. Res. 2011, 3, 865-871, each incorporated herein byreference in their entirety).

In the dithiocarbamate ligands, the bands in the region 1457-1487 cm⁻¹that were assigned to the v(N—CSS) stretching vibrations shifted tohigher energies in the range 1460-1501 cm⁻¹ upon complexation, thusshowing an increase in the carbon-nitrogen double bond character(Herlimger, W. A.; Wenhold, N. S.; Long, V. T. Infrared spectra of aminoacids and their metal complexes. II. Geometrical isomerism in bis(aminoacidato)copper(II) complexes. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1970, 92, 6474-6481,incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). This shift was causedby increased electron delocalization towards the metal ion uponcoordination and confirmed the coordination of the metal ions to thedithiocarbamate ligands. Because these frequency modes lie between theones associated with single C—N and double C═N bonds, the partial doublebond character of the thioureide bond was confirmed for complexes 1-5(Jian, F.; Wang, Z.; Bai, Z.; You, X.; Fun, H.; Chinnakali, K.; Razak,A. L. The crystal structure, equilibrium and spectroscopic studies ofbis(dialkyldithiocarbamate) copper(II) complexes [Cu₂(R₂dtc)₄](dtc=dithiocarbamate). Polyhedron. 1999, 18, 3401-3406, incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety).

The bands due to the —CSS moiety are usually coupled to other vibrationsand are very sensitive to the environment of this group, therebydistinguishing monodentate and bidentate dithiocarbamate coordination.The presence of only one band in the region 940-1060 cm⁻¹ was assumed byBonati and Ugo to indicate a completely symmetrical bonding of thedithiocarbamate ligand, which acted in a bidentate mode (Bonati, F.;Ugo, R. Organotin(IV) N,N-disubstituted dithiocarbamates. J. Organomet.Chem. 1967, 10, 257-268, incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety). Conversely, a split band indicates a monodentate boundligand. In the complexes reported here, without wishing to be bound bytheory, the presence of two bands in the investigated region suggeststhe dithiocarbamate is monodentate and exhibited asymmetrical behavior.

The coordination of phosphine, PR₃, and dithiocarbamato, S—CN(R)₂, tothe Au(I) center via phosphorus and sulfur donor atoms and the formationof P—Au—S bonds can be supported by the presence of v(Au—P) and v(Au—S)bands, respectively, in the ranges 272-289 and 195-202 cm⁻¹ in far-FTIR.

Example 5 Solution NMR Measurements

All NMR measurements were carried out on a Jeol JNM-LA 500 NMRspectrophotometer at 297 K. The ¹H NMR spectra were recorded at afrequency of 500.00 MHz. The 13C NMR spectra were obtained at afrequency of 125.65 MHz with ¹H broadband decoupling and referenced toTMS. The spectral conditions were: 32 k data points, 0.967 s acquisitiontime, 1.00 s pulse delay, and 45° pulse angle. ³¹P NMR spectra weremeasured at a frequency of 202.35 MHz, using 0.269 s acquisition time,20.00 s pulse delay and 6.20 μs pulse with ¹H broadband decoupling. ³¹PNMR chemical shifts were measured relative to the internal reference 85%H₃PO₄. The ¹H, ¹³C, and ³¹P NMR chemical shifts are given in Table 5,Table 6, and Table 7, respectively.

TABLE 5 ¹H NMR chemical shifts of gold(I) precursor anddithiocarbamato(phosphane)gold(I) complexes in CDCl₃ ¹H (δ in ppm) J(Hz) J (Hz) J (Hz) Compound H1 (²J_(PH), J_(HH)) H2 (³J_(PH)) H1′ J_(HH)H2′ (Me)₃PAuCl 1.63, d 11.3, —   (Et)₃PAuCl 1.85, dq 10.3, 7.7  1.21, td18.9 (i-Pr)₃PAuCl 2.28, dp 9.5, 7.3 1.31, dd 23.2 (Me)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂)(1) 1.61, d 10.7, —   3.47, s (Et)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂) (2) 1.63, d 10.7, —  3.90, q 6.7 1.30, t (Me)₃PAu(S₂CN{Et}₂) (3) 1.84, dq 9.9, 7.7 1.23, td18.3 3.47, s (Et)₃PAu(S₂CN{Et}₂) (4) 1.85, p 7.9, 7.9 1.22, td 18.93.46, q 6.7 1.21, t (i-Pr)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂) (5) 2.29, dp 9.4, 7.1 1.33, dd23.2 3.47, s s, singlet; d, doublet; t, triplet; q, quartet; p, pentet;dd, doublet of doublet; dq, doublet of quartet; td, triplet of double;dp, doublet of pentet.

TABLE 6 ¹³C NMR chemical shifts of gold(I) precursor and thedithiocarbamato(phosphane)gold(I) complexes in CDCl₃ J (Hz) Compound C═SC1 ¹J_(CP) C2 C1′ C2′ (Me)₃PAuCl — 16.3, 16.0 39.0 — — — (Et)₃PAuCl —18.3, 18.0 37.4 9.0 (i-Pr)₃PAuCl — 24.1, 23.8 31.1 20.3  — —(Me)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂) 207 16.6, 16.3 36.3 — 45.2 — (1) (Et)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂)206 16.4, 16.1 37.3 48.9 11.9 (2) (Me)₃PAu(S₂CN{Et}₂) 208 18.4, 18.234.2 8.8 45.0 — (3) (Et)₃PAu(S₂CN{Et}₂) 206 18.4, 18.2 33.2 8.7 48.912.0 (4) (i-Pr)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂) 208 23.9, 23.7 28.9 20.1  45.0 — (5)

TABLE 7 ³¹P NMR chemical shifts of gold(I) precursor and thedithiocarbamato(phosphane)gold(I) complexes in CDCl₃ Compound Pδ_(shift) (Me)₃PAuCl −11 (Me)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂) (1) −8.7 2.3(Et)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂) (2) −8.8 2.2 (Et)₃PAuCl 29.4 (Me)₃PAu(S₂CN{Et}₂) (3)31.9 2.5 (Et)₃PAu(S₂CN{Et}₂) (4) 32.2 2.8 (i-Pr)₃PAu(I)Cl −36.7(i-Pr)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂) (5) −35.1 1.6

The ¹H NMR data, especially the integral of the signals of the protonsof the phosphine and dithiocarbamate groups, supports the structures ofthe synthesized complexes. For instance, the ¹H NMR spectrum (FIG. 4) ofcomplex 1 displayed a doublet at 1.61 ppm, due to the methyl proton ofthe trimethylphosphine, and a singlet at 3.47 ppm, corresponding to themethyl groups of the S₂CN(CH₃)₂ ligands, with a relative integration9:6, as expected for the proposed stoichiometry. The ¹³C NMR spectrumshown in FIG. 5 confirms the structure of complex 1. A complete list of¹H and ¹³C NMR data of compounds 1-5 and the corresponding gold(I)precursors is given in Tables 5 and 6, respectively. For the alkylgroups bound to the phosphine moiety in the complexes 1-5, the ¹H and¹³C NMR signals are very close for the gold(I) precursors. There was nosignificant change in the ²J_(P-H) coupling constant for the gold(I)precursors and their corresponding dithiocarbamato(phosphane)gold(I)complexes. However, the P—C coupling constant, ¹J_(P-C), showed areduction of 2.2-4.2 Hz upon complexation. The ³¹P{¹H}-NMR data (Table7) of the complexes 1-5 show singlet resonances which are shifted by ca.1.6 to 2.8 ppm to higher field compared to those of the gold(I)precursors.

Example 6 Solid State NMR Studies

The ¹³C solid-state NMR spectra were acquired on a Bruker 400 MHzspectrometer at ambient temperature of 25° C. Samples were packed into 4mm zirconium oxide rotors. Cross polarization and high power decouplingwere employed. Pulse delay of 7.0 s and a contact time of 5.0 ms wereused in the CPMAS experiments. The magic angle spinning rates were 4 and8 kHz. Carbon chemical shifts were referenced to TMS by setting the highfrequency isotropic peak of solid adamantane to 38.56 ppm. The solid NMRdata is given in Table 8.

TABLE 8 ¹³C Solid state NMR chemical shifts ofdithiocarbamato(phosphane)gold(I) complexes Compound C═S C1 C2 C1′ C2′NaS₂CN{Me}₂ 208 47.1 NaS₂CN{Et}₂ 206 48.3 12.9 (Et)₃PAu(I)Cl 17.0  9.8(Me)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂) (1) 209 20.1 — 48.9 — (Et)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂) (2) 20920.0 49.8 16.7 (Me)₃PAu(S₂CN{Et}₂) (3) 211 23.4 14.2 49.2 —(Et)₃PAu(S₂CN{Et}₂) (4) 211 22.6 15.2 52.0 15.6

At the spinning rate of 4 kHz, the isotropic signals for all complexeswere observed for the carbon atom in NCS₂ fragment of thedithiocarbamate ligand, indicating the anisotropy that could take placedue to the sp² hybridization of these atoms. Complexes 1-4 showedsignificant downfield shifts (˜4 ppm) for all carbons bonded to sulfurand phosphorus atoms in the dithiocarbamate and phosphine ligands,respectively, with respect to the free ligands and the gold(I)precursor. This observation can be attributed to the strong electrondonation by the S atom of the dimethyldithiocarbamate and the P atom oftrimethylphosphine. Compared to the chemical shifts in solution NMR,significant de-shielding in the solid state was observed. The solidstate and solution NMR chemical shifts for complexes 1-4 are similar,indicating the stability of the complexes in solid state.

Example 7 X-Ray Diffraction Analysis

Single crystal data collection for complex 1 was performed at 173K(−100° C.) on a Stoe Mark II-IPD System equipped with a two-circlegoniometer and using MoK_(α) graphite monochromatic radiation(Sheldrick, M. G. A short history of SHELX. Acta Cryst. 2008, A64,112-122, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). Diffractiondata for 1 was collected using ω rotation scans of 0-180° at ϕ=0° and of0-180° at ϕ=90° with step Δω=1.0°, exposures of 1 minute per image, 2θrange=2.29-59.53° and d_(min)-d_(max)=17.779-0.716 Å. The distancebetween the imaging plate and the sample was 100 mm, and the structurewas solved by direct methods using the program SHELXS-97 (Stoe, Cie,X-Area V1.35 and X-RED32 V1.31 Software, Stoe and Cie GmbH, Darmstadt.Germany. 2006, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). Therefinement and all further calculations were carried out usingSHELXL-97. The H-atoms were either located from Fourier difference mapsand freely refined or included in calculated positions and treated asriding atoms using SHELXL default parameters. The non-H atoms wererefined anisotropically, using weighted full-matrix least-squares on F².Empirical or multi-scan absorption corrections were applied usingMULSCANABS routines in PLATON (Sheldrick, M. G. A short history ofSHELX. Acta Cryst. 2008, A64, 112-122, incorporated herein by referencein its entirety). A summary of crystal data and refinement details forcompound 1 are given in Table 9. FIGS. 1 and 2 were drawn using theprograms PLATON and MERCURY (Macrae, F. C.; Edgington, R. P.; McCabe,P.; Pidcock, E.; Shields, P. G.; Taylor, R.; Towler, M.; Van de Streek,J. Mercury: visualization and analysis crystal structures. J. Appl.Cryst. 2006, 39, 453-457, incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety). Selected bond-distances and bond angles are given in Table10.

TABLE 9 Summary of crystal data and details of the structure refinementfor complex 1 Complex 1 CCDC No. 1006138 Empirical formulaC₆H₁₅Au₁N₁P₁S₂ Formula weight 393.27 Crystal size/mm 0.15 × 0.3 × 0.09Wavelength/Å 0.71073 Temperature/K 173 (2) Crystal symmetry OrthorhombicSpace group Fdd2 a/Å 32.075 (2) b/Å 24.0898 (14) c/Å 6.1700 (3) V/Å³4767.4 (5) Z 8 D_(c)/Mg m⁻³ 2.192 μ(Mo-Kα)/mm⁻¹ 12.78 F(000) 2944 θLimits/° 2.1-25.7 Collected reflections 8135 Unique reflections(R_(int)) 2123 (0.082) Observed reflections [F_(o) > 2σ(F_(o))] 2175Goodness of fit on F² 1.08 R₁ (F), ^(a)[I > 2σ (I)] 0.043 wR₂ (F²),^(b)[I > 2σ(I)] 0.120 Largest diff. peak, hole/e Å⁻³ 1.40, −3.10

TABLE 10 Selected bond distances and bond angles for complex 1 BondLength Bond (Å) Found [Calc.] Angles (°) Found [Calc.] Au—P1 2.249(3)[2.396] P1—Au—S1 176.88 (13) [178.3] Au—S1 2.326 (3) [2.453] C1—P1—C2103.7 (10) [104.0] P1—C1 1.775 (16) [1.881] C1—P1—C3 104.1 (9) [104.1]P1—C2 1.792 (14) [1.881] C2—P1—C3 105.0 (8) [104.2] P1—C3 1.797 (15)[1.879] C1—P1—Au 117.5 (6) [116.3] S1—C4 1.758 (12) [1.826] C2—P1—Au113.1 (6) [112.3]

The X-ray molecular structure of [(Me)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂)] (1) is shown inFIG. 1. In this structure, gold(I) is coordinated to the P donor atom oftrimethylphosphine and the S donor atom of dimethyldithiocarbamate. TheAu—S and Au—P bond distances were 2.326 (3) and 2.249 (3) Årespectively. The Au—P and Au—S bond distances were comparable with the[Et₃PAu(S₂CNEt₂)] complex (Ho, Y. S.; Tiekink, T. R. E. Z. Kristallogr.NCS. 2005, 220, 342-344, incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety). The geometry around the Au(I) metal atom is linear andsimilar to other Au(I) complexes (Sänger, I.; Lerner, -W. H.; Sinke, T.;Bolte, M. Iodido(tri-tert-butylphosphane-κP)gold(I) ActaCryst. 2012,E68, m708; Lu, P.; Boorman, C. T.; Slawin, Z. M. A.; Larrosa, I.Gold(I)-mediated C—H— Activation of Arenes. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2010, 132,5580-5581; Marsh, E. R. The space groups of point group C₃: somecorrections, some comments. Acta Cryst. 2002, B58, 893-899; andSchmidbaur, H.; Brachthiuser, B.; Steigelmann, O.; Beruda, H.Preparation and Structure ofHexakis[(trialkylphosphane)aurio(I)]methanium(2+) Salts [(LAu)₆C]²⁺(X⁻)₂with L=Et₃P, iPr₃P and X═BF₄ ⁻, B₃O₃F₄ ⁻ . Chem. Ber. 1992, 125,2705-2710, each incorporated herein by reference in their entirety). In[(Me)₃PAu(S₂CN(Me)₂)] (1), the S—Au—P bond angle was 176.88 (13). TheS—Au—P bond angle value showed considerable deviation from an ideallinear angle of 180° (Table 10) and confirmed the presence of distortedlinear geometry in this molecule. The interactions between differentfunctional groups of the molecules resulted in a three-dimensionalnetwork shown in FIG. 2. The optimized structure of the compound 1obtained from the B3LYP/LANL2DZ level of calculations is shown in FIG.3. Table 10 presents a good agreement between the experimental andcalculated structural parameters for almost all bond distances andangles, which supports the crystallographic data.

Example 8 Computational Study

The structures of the [(Me)₃PAu(DMDT)] complex was optimized without anygeometrical constrains using GAUSSIAN09 program (Frisch, J. M.; Trucks,W. G.; Schlegel, B. H.; Scuseria, E. G.; Robb, A. M.; Cheeseman, J. R.;Scalmani, G.; Barone, V.; Mennucci, B.; Petersson, A. G.; Nakatsuji, H.;Caricato, M.; Li, X.; Hratchian, P. H.; Izmaylov, F. A.; Bloino, J.;Zheng, G.; Sonnenberg, L. J.; Hada, M.; Ehara, M.; Toyota, K.; Fukuda,R.; Hasegawa, J.; Ishida, M.; Nakajima, T.; Honda, Y.; Kitao, O.; Nakai,H.; Vreven, T.; Montgomery, A. J.; Peralta, E. J. Jr.; Ogliaro, F.;Bearpark, M.; Heyd, J. J.; Brothers, E.; Kudin, N. K.; Staroverov, N.V.; Kobayashi, R.; Normand, J.; Raghavachari, K.; Rendell, A.; Burant,C. J.; Iyengar, S. S.; Tomasi, J.; Cossi, M.; Rega, N.; Millam, M. J.;Klene, M.; Knox, E. J.; Cross, B. J.; Bakken, V.; Adamo, C.; Jaramillo,J.; Gomperts, R.; Stratmann, E. R.; Yazyev, O.; Austin, A. J.; Cammi,R.; Pomelli, C.; Ochterski, W. J.; Martin, L. R.; Morokuma, K.;Zakrzewski, G. V.; Voth, A. G.; Salvador, P.; Dannenberg, J. J.;Dapprich, S.; Daniels, D. S.; Farkas, Ö.; Foresman, B. J.; Ortiz, V. J.;Cioslowski, J.; Fox, J. D. Gaussian 09, Revision A.1, Gaussian, Inc.Wallingford Conn. 2009, incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety). The hybrid B3LYP density functional (the three-parameterBecke functional with correlation from the Lee-Yang-Parr functional)with the Los Alamos National Laboratory-2 double-ζ (LANL2DZ) basis setwas employed (Becke, D. A. Density-functional exchange-energyapproximation with correct asymptotic behavior. Phys. Rev. 1988, 38,3098; Lee, C. W.; Yang, W. D; Parr. G. R. Development of theColle-Salvetti correlation-energy formula into a functional of theelectron density. Phys. Rev. 1988, B37, 785; Hay, J. P.; Wadt, R. W. Abinitio effective core potentials for molecular calculations. Potentialsfor the transition metal atoms Sc to Hg. J. Chem. Phys. 1985, 82, 270;Wadt, R. W.; Hay, J. P. Ab initio effective core potentials formolecular calculations. Potentials for main group elements Na to Bi. J.Chem. Phys. 1985, 82, 284; and Hay, J. P.; Wadt, R. W. Ab initioeffective core potentials for molecular calculations. Potentials for Kto Au including the outermost core orbitals. J. Chem. Phys. 1985, 82,299, each incorporated herein by reference in their entirety). Thecalculated data was consistent with the experimental data. Moreover,stationary points were confirmed by frequency calculations. Calculatedbond distances and angles are listed alongside with experimental valuesin Table 10 for compound 1.

Example 9 Cell Cultures

Human breast cancer cells (MDA-MB231, MCF-7) were grown in Dulbecco'smodified Eagle's medium (DMEM) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum(FBS) and 1% penicillin (10,000 units) with streptomycin (10 mg) in a 74cm² flask and incubated until 80% confluence was obtained in ahumidified environment of 5% CO₂-95% air at 37° C.

Example 10 MTT Assays for Anticancer Activity of Gold(I) Complexes 1-5

Cancer cells were seeded and maintained in quadruplicate in a 96-welltissue culture plate at 5×10³ cells per well in 150 μl of the samemedium. The cancer cells were incubated for 24 hours before thetreatment. All compounds were dissolved in 50% DMSO. Therefore, DMSO wasused as a negative control. Complexes 1-5 and cisplatin (positivecontrol) at 0.01 μM, 0.05 μM, 0.1 μM, 1 μM, 5 μM, 10 μM, and 50 μMconcentrations were prepared in DMEM. The final DMSO concentration, ineach well, was less than 0.1%.

The cancer cells were treated with the synthesized compounds 1-5 andcisplatin and then incubated for 24 h. The medium from the wells wasdiscarded and 100 μL of DMEM containing MTT(3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) (5 mg/mL)was added to the wells. The cells were incubated in a CO₂ incubator at37° C. in the dark for 4 h. After incubation, a purple colored formazan(an artificial chromogenic dye, a product of the reduction of waterinsoluble tetrazolium salts, such as MTT, by dehydrogenases andreductases) was produced by the cells and appeared as dark crystals inthe bottom of the wells. The medium from each well was discardedcarefully to avoid disruption of the monolayer. 100 μL of isopropanolwas added in each well. The solution was thoroughly mixed in the wellsto dissolve the formazan crystals which ultimately results into a purplesolution. The absorbance of the 96-well plate was taken at 570 nm withMithras²LB943 against a blank (e.g. unreduced MTT in isopropanol). Alldata presented are mean t standard deviation.

The concentration-dependent antiproliferative effects of complexes 1-5after 24 hours of incubation against a fixed number of human cancercells are shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The results were consistent with theexpectation that the cell inhibition was augmented with increasingconcentrations of the complexes 1-5 for both MDA-MB231 and MCF-7 cancercells respectively. It is generally observed from FIGS. 6 and 7 that theconcentration-dependent antiproliferative effect of complexes 1-5 wasstronger in MCF-7 cancer cells than in MDA-MB231 cancer cells. In theconcentration-dependent cell growth inhibition study, at allconcentrations (0.01-10 μM), complexes 1-5 showed much better cellinhibition against the MDA-MB231 cancer cell line than cisplatin, asshown in FIG. 6. Furthermore, compounds 1-5 and cisplatin demonstratedcomparable cell inhibition against the MCF-7 cancer cell line, as shownin FIG. 7.

The exact antiproliferation mechanisms ofdithiocarbamato(phosphane)gold(1) type complexes on cancer cell linesremain vague. The significantly diminished renal toxicity of[(DACH)Au(pn)]Cl₃ (“DACH” refers to 1,2-diaminocyclohexane, and “pn”refers to propylene diamine) complex could be attributed to thedifferent antiproliferative mechanism of action and selective sparing ofthe proximal tubular epithelial cells (Ahmed, A.; Al Tamimi, M. D.;Isab, A. A.; Alkhawajah, M. M. A.; Shawarby, A. M. Histological Changesin Kidney and Liver of Rats Due to Gold(III) Compound [Au(en)Cl₂]Cl.PLoS ONE. 2012, 7, e51889, incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety). In addition, most gold compounds display a reduced affinityfor DNA, and it seems reasonable that DNA is neither the primary nor theexclusive target for most gold complexes. Recent studies have proposed adifferent mode of action for these compounds: in most cases, inducedapoptosis was the mode of cell death (Vivek, S.; Kyoungweon, P.; Mohan,S. Colloidal dispersion of gold nanorods: Historical background, opticalproperties, seed-mediated synthesis, shape separation and self-assembly.Materials Science and Engineering. 2009. R65, 1-38; Niemeyer, M. C.Nanoparticles, Proteins, and Nucleic Acids: Biotechnology MeetsMaterials Science. Angew. Chem. Intl. Ed. 2001, 40, 4128-4158; andPellegrino, T.; Kudera, S.; Liedl, T.; Javier, M. A.; Manna, L.; Parak,J. W. On the Development of Colloidal Nanoparticles towardsMultifunctional Structures and their Possible Use for BiologicalApplications. Small. 2005, 1, 48-63, each incorporated herein byreference in their entirety). The mechanism for inducing apoptosis isnot precisely delineated. The mechanisms associated with the inhibitoryeffects of complexes 1-5 on the proliferation of rapidly dividing cancercells may consist of a cumulative impact on the induction of cell cycleblockage, interruption of the cell mitotic cycle, apoptosis (programmedcell death), and necrosis (premature cell death) (Taatjes, J. D.; Sobel,E. B.; Budd, C. R. Morphological and cytochemical determination of celldeath by apoptosis. Histochem Cell Biol. 2008, 129, 33-43; Takemura, G.;Kanoh, M.; Minatoguchi, S. M.; Fujiwara, H. Cardiomyocyte apoptosis inthe failing heart—A critical review from definition and classificationof cell death. Intel. J. Cardio. 2013, 167, 2373-2386; and Hayashi, R.;Nakatsui, K.; Sugiyama, D.; Kitajima, T.; Oohara, N.; Sugiya, M.; Osada,S.; Kodama, H. Antitumor activities of Au(I) complexed withbisphosphines in HL-60 cells. J. Inorg. Biochem. 2014, 137, 109-114,each incorporated herein by reference in their entirety).

The in vitro cytotoxic effect of mixed ligand gold(I) complexes 1-5against MDA-MB231 and MCF-7 were studied using the MTT assay. The invitro cytotoxic activity depends on the exposure time and theconcentrations of the complexes. For that reason, differentconcentrations of the complexes and a 3-day exposure protocol todetermine the IC₅₀ values for all five complexes and cisplatin wereused.

The IC₅₀ data for the Au(I) complexes 1-5 is in a range of 0.043-0.055μM for MDA-MB231 cells (Table 11). For theses MDA-MB231 cancer cells,the order of in vitro cytotoxicity is complex 3 (0.043 μM)>complex 1(0.044 μM), complex 4 (0.044 μM)>complex 2 (0.055 μM)>complex 5 (0.70μM)>cisplatin (25.8 μM). All of the complexes showed significantcytotoxic effects against the breast cancer cell line MDA-MB231 and werefound to be more active than cisplatin to a large extent, specifically37- to 600-fold more cytotoxic than cisplatin. The complexes could alsoovercome both intrinsic and acquired resistance to cisplatin.

TABLE 11 IC₅₀ (μM) of Cisplatin and compounds 1-5 IC₅₀ (μM) ComplexesMDA MCF-7 (Me)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂) (1) 0.044 ± 0.001 0.0078 ± 0.0002(Et)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂) (2) 0.055 ± 0.001 0.0064 ± 0.0002(Me)₃PAu(S₂CN{Et}₂) (3) 0.043 ± 0.001 0.0088 ± 0.0003(Et)₃PAu(S₂CN{Et}₂) (4) 0.044 ± 0.001 0.0053 ± 0.0002(i-Pr)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂) (5)  0.70 ± 0.019 0.0079 ± 0.0002 Cisplatin 25.8 ±0.71 0.0059 ± 0.0002

The IC₅₀ data for the Au(I) complexes 1-5 is in the range of 0.0053-0.88μM for MCF-7 cells (Table 11). It is apparent from the IC₅₀ data forMCF-7 cancer cells that complexes 1-5 showed comparable in vitrocytotoxicity to cisplatin. Complex 4 was a better cytotoxic agent thancomplexes 1, 2, 3, and 5 for MCF-7 cancer cells, as the order of invitro cytotoxicity in terms of IC₅₀ values is complex 4 (0.0053μM)>cisplatin (0.0059 μM)>complex 2 (0.0064 μM)>complex 1 (0.0078μM)>complex 5 (0.0078 μM)>complex 3 (0.0088 μM).

In general, the anticancer activity of the synthesized complexes 1-5against the MDA-MB231 and MCF-7R breast human cancer cell lines wasinteresting and these complexes exhibited better anticancer activitythan in other gold compounds in the literature (Barreiro, E.; Casas, SJ.; Couce, D. M.; Sánchez, A.; Sordo, J.; Vázquez-López, M. E. J Inorg.Heteronuclear gold(I)-silver(I) sulfanylcarboxylates: Synthesis,structure and cytotoxic activity against cancer cell lines. J. Inorg.Biochem. 2014, 131, 68-75; Kivekäs, R.; Colacio, E.; Ruiz, J.;López-González, D. J.; León, P. Bromopalladates(II) of XanthineDerivatives. Crystal Structure of 1, 3, 8-TrimethylxanthiniumTribromopalladate(II) Monohydrate. Inorg Chim Acta. 1989, 159, 103-110;Ortego, L.; Cardoso, F.; Martins, S.; Fillat, F. M.; Laguna, A.; M.Meireles, M.; Villacampa, D. M.; Gimeno, C. M. Strong inhibition ofthioredoxin reductase by highly cytotoxic gold(I) complexes. DNA bindingstudies. J. Inorg. Biochem. 2014, 130, 32-37; and Ott, I. Koch, T.;Shorafa, H.; Bai, Z.; Poeckel, D.; Steinhilber, D.; Gust, R. Synthesis,cytotoxicity, cellular uptake and influence on eicosanoid metabolism ofcobalt alkyne modified fructoses in comparison to auranofin and thecytotoxic COX inhibitor Co-ASS. Org. Biomol. Chem. 2005, 3, 2282-2286,each incorporated herein by reference in their entirety).

Example 11 DNA Binding

Gold(I) complexes, beginning with auranofin, are gaining attention as anew class of chemotherapeutics because of their strong tumor cellgrowth-inhibiting effect (Nobili, S.; Mini, E.; Landini, I.; Gabbiani,C.; Casini, A.; Messori, L. Gold Compounds as Anticancer Agents:Chemistry, Cellular Pharmacology, and Preclinical Studies. Med. Chem.Res. 2010, 30, 550-580, incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety). Because DNA is the potential intracellular target for manyanticancer drugs due to its predominant role in controlling cellularfunctions, the metallodrug-DNA interaction is significant because of itsability to function as a rational design system for the development ofnew efficient drugs that target DNA. DNA interaction can be achievedthrough intercalation between the metal complex and DNA, which resultsin hypochromism with or without a red/blue shift, and/or throughnon-intercalative/electrostatic interaction, which causes hypochromism(Liu, Z. C.; Wang, B. D.; Li, B.; Wang, Q.; Yang, Z. Y.; Li, T. R.; Li,Y. Crystal structures, DNA-binding and cytotoxic activities studies ofCu(II) complexes with 2-oxo-quinoline-3-carbaldehyde Schiff-bases. Eur.J. Med. Chem. 2010, 45, 5353-5361; and Tjioe, L.; Meininger, A.; Joshi,T.; Spiccia, L.; Graham, B. Efficient plasmid DNA cleavage by copper(II)complexes of 1,4,7-triazacyclononane ligands featuring xylyl-linkedguanidinium groups. Inorg. Chem. 2011, 50, 4327-4339, each incorporatedherein by reference in their entirety).

DNA binding experiments, which include absorption spectral titrations,fluorescence and circular dichroism, conformed to the standard methodsand practices previously adopted by the laboratory (Marmur, J. Aprocedure for the isolation of deoxyribonucleic acid frommicroorganisms. J. Mol. Biol. 1961, 3, 208-218; Reicmann, E. M.; Rice,A. S.; Thomas, A. C.; Doty, P. A Further Examination of the MolecularWeight and Size of Desoxypentose Nucleic Acid. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1954,76, 3047-3053; and Chauhan, M.; Banerjee, K.; Arjmand, F. DNA bindingStudies of Novel Copper(II) Complexes Containing L-tryptophan as ChiralAuxiliary. In vitro Antitumor Activity of Cu—Sn₂ Complex in HumanNeuroblastoma Cells. Inorg. Chem. 2007, 46, 3072-3082, each incorporatedherein by reference in their entirety).

To obtain concrete information and to determine the coordination of themetal ion to the specific site at the molecular target, interactionswith low molecular building blocks of large DNA molecules viz., 5′-GMP,5′-TMP, 5′-AMP and 5′-CMP were carried out with complex 4. On additionof increasing amounts (0.067×10⁻⁴ M to 0.33×10⁻⁴ M) of themononucleotides to complex 4, hypochromic effect was observed withconcomitant moderate blue shift (2-5 nm) at π→π* (FIG. 9), indicatingthe electrostatic surface binding interactions of 4 with differentnucleotides. The purine and pyrimidine bases of CT-DNA became exposedbecause of the unwinding of the DNA duplex promoting an effectivebinding to these base pairs with the drug entities. To comparequantitatively the binding of complex 4 to mononucleotides (5′-GMP,5′-TMP, 5′-AMP and 5′-CMP), the intrinsic binding constants (K_(b)) weredetermined and found to be 3.3×10⁴ M⁻¹, 4.9×10⁴ M⁻¹, 5.7×10⁴ M⁻¹, and2.8×10⁴ M⁻¹, respectively. The trend of mononucleotide interaction with4, as validated by K_(b) values was 5′-AMP>5′-TMP>5′-GMP>5′-CMP,supports the preferential selectivity for thymidine residue by thecoordination with N3 atom of the thymine base of DNA duplex.

Example 12 Absorption Spectral Experiments

Absorption spectral titration experiments were performed at a constantconcentration of the complexes with varying CT-DNA concentrations. Theabsorbance (A) of the most shifted band of the investigated complexeswas recorded after successive addition of CT-DNA. A reference cellcontaining DNA alone was used to nullify the absorbance due to the DNAat the measured wavelength. From the absorption titration data, theintrinsic binding constant (K_(b)) of the complexes with CT-DNA weredetermined using Wolfe-Shimmer equation (Wolfe, A.; Shimer, H. G.;Meehan, T. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons physically intercalate intoduplex regions of denatured DNA. Biochem. 1987, 26, 6392-6396,incorporated herein by reference in its entirety).

$\begin{matrix}{\frac{\lbrack{DNA}\rbrack}{ɛ_{a} - ɛ_{f}} = {\frac{\lbrack{DNA}\rbrack}{ɛ_{b} - ɛ_{f}} + \frac{1}{K_{b}\left( {ɛ_{a} - ɛ_{f}} \right)}}} & (1)\end{matrix}$ε_(a), ε_(f), and ε_(b) correspond to A_(obsd)/[Complex], the extinctioncoefficient for free complex, and the extinction coefficient for thecomplexes in the fully bound form, respectively. A plot of[DNA]/ε_(a)-ε_(f) vs. [DNA], where [DNA] is the concentration of DNA inthe base pairs, gives K_(b) as the ratio of slope to the intercept.

To evaluate the mode of interaction of the complexes with CT-DNA,absorption titration studies have been performed by monitoring thechanges in absorption intensity by aliquot addition of DNA. On additionof increasing concentrations (0-1.2×10⁻⁴ M) of CT DNA to a fixed amount(0.67×10⁻⁴ M) of complexes 1-5, there was a change in absorptionintensity in ligand-based π→π* transitions centered at ca. 270 nm, thussignificant “hyperchromism” (43-20%) was observed along with blue shiftof 5-2 nm (FIGS. 8A, 8C, 8E, 8G, and 8I). The resultant hyperchromicshift suggested that all the complexes were bound to CT-DNA by externalcontact, possibly due to electrostatic binding (Long, C. E.; Barton, K.On demonstrating DNA interaction. J. Acc. Chem. Res. 1990, 23, 271,incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). The intrinsic bindingconstant, K_(b), is a useful tool to monitor the magnitude of thebinding strength of complexes with CT-DNA (Table 12). The K_(b) valuesfollowed the order 4>3>2>1>5, indicating that the complex 4 boundstronger to CT-DNA than other complexes. The relative difference in theK_(b) values could be attributed to different binding modes of Au(I)complexes depending upon the type of substituent groups. Sincelipophilicity and hydrophilicity of the gold complexes are importantparameters which affect biodistribution, activity and selectivity of thedrugs, the nature of the ligands attached to the gold atom is animportant parameter in drug design. Previous structure-activityrelationship studies on linear gold(I) complexes indicated that thepresence of the phosphine ligand is important for the biological potencyof the complexes (Mirabelli, C. K.; Johnson, R. K.; Hill, D. T.;Faucette, L. F.; Girard, G. R.; Kuo, G. Y.; Sung, C. M.; Crooke, S. T.Correlation of the in vitro cytotoxic and in vivo antitumor activitiesof gold(I) coordination complexes. J. Med. Chem. 1986, 29, 218-223,incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). Long alkyl chainslead to more hydrophobicity and consequently account for higher bindingaffinity with DNA compared to their short-chained analogs. This could bethe reason for the higher binding affinity of complex 4. However, incomplex 5, the bulky isopropyl moiety on the phosphine ligand couldinduce steric constraints resulting in the lower binding propensity withDNA.

TABLE 12 The intrinsic binding constant (K_(b)) values of complexes withCT DNA (mean standard deviation of ±0.11) Hyper- λ chromism Blue shiftComplex K_(b) (M⁻¹) (nm) (%) (nm) (Me)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂) (1) 3.90 × 10⁴ 27022 2 (Et)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂) (2) 4.74 × 10⁴ 270 31 3 (Me)₃PAu(S₂CN{Et}₂) (3)6.81 × 10⁴ 272 37 3 (Et)₃PAu(S₂CN{Et}₂) (4) 8.53 × 10⁴ 272 43 5(i-Pr)₃PAu(S₂CN{Me}₂) (5) 2.48 × 10⁴ 270 20 0

Example 13 Fluorescence Spectral Studies

Fluorescence experiments were carried out at a constant concentration ofthe complexes with increasing CT-DNA concentrations. The bindingconstant, K, of the gold(I) complexes was determined from Scatchard eqs.(2) and (3) by employing emission titration (Liu, D. G.; Liao, P. J.;Fang, Z. Y.; Huang, S. S.; Sheng, L. G.; Yu, Q. R. Interaction ofbis(ethylene)tin(bis(salicylidene)ethylenediamine) with DNA. Anal. Sci.2002, 18 391-395; and Healy, F. E. Quantitative determination ofDNA-ligand binding using fluorescence spectroscopy. J. Chem. Educ. 2007,84, 1304-1307, each incorporated herein by reference in their entirety).C _(F) =C _(T)(I/I _(o) −P)(1−P)  (2)r/C _(F) =K(n−r)  (3)where C_(F) is the free probe (i.e. free metal complex) concentration,C_(T) is the total concentration of the probe added, I and I_(o) arefluorescence intensities in the presence and absence of CT-DNA,respectively, r denotes a ratio of C_(B) (C_(B)=C_(T)−C_(F)) to the DNAconcentration, i.e., the bound probe concentration to the DNAconcentration, K is the binding constant, “n” is the binding sitenumber, and P is the ratio of the observed fluorescence quantum yield ofthe bound probe to that of the free probe. The value P was obtained asthe intercept by extrapolating from a plot of I/I_(o) vs. 1/[DNA].

Luminescence titrations involving quenching experiments were conductedby adding increasing concentration of the complexes to a fixedconcentration of EB-DNA system. The Tris-HCl buffer was used as a blankto make preliminary adjustments. The Stern-Volmer quenching constant,K_(sv) was obtained from the following equation (Lakowiez, R. J.;Webber, G. Quenching of fluorescence by oxygen. Probe for structuralfluctuations in macromolecules. Biochem. 1973, 12, 4161-4170,incorporated herein by reference in its entirety).I ₀ /I=1+K _(SV) ·r  (4)where r is the ratio of total concentration of complex to that of DNA,and I_(o) and I are the fluorescence intensities of EB in the absenceand presence of complex.

The fluorescence emission titration of complexes 1-5 was carried out inorder to understand the nature of binding mode of these complexes withCT-DNA. This method is highly sensitive, reproducible, and accurate. Inthe absence of CT-DNA, all complexes 1-5 (concentration=1.3×10⁻⁴ M)emitted strong luminescence when excited at 275 nm in Tris-HCl/NaClbuffer with an emission maximum appearing at 340 nm. However, thesubsequent addition of CT-DNA from 0.067-0.5×10⁻⁴ M caused a gradualenhancement in the fluorescence intensity of the complexes with noapparent change in the shape and position of the emission bands (FIGS.10A-10E), which is indicative of a strong interaction of the Au(I) drugentities with CT DNA. The hydrophobic molecular structure of CT DNAcould be responsible for enhancing the fluorescence quantum yield ofcomplexes, leading to the higher fluorescence intensity with increasingconcentration of CT DNA. In addition, energy transfer from CT-DNA tometal complexes could also induce fluorescence enhancement (Arjmand, F.;Jamsheera, A.; Afzal, M.; S. Tabassum, S. Enantiomeric Specificity ofBiologically Significant Cu(II) and Zn(II) Chromone Complexes TowardsDNA. Chirality. 2012, 24, 977-986, Tabassum, S.; Yadav, S.; Arjmand, F.Synthesis and mechanistic insight of glycosylated Cu^(II)/Ni^(II)—Sn₂^(IV) heterobimetallic DNA binding agents: Validation of a specificCu^(II)—Sn₂ ^(IV) chemotherapeutic agent for human leukemic cell lineK-562. J. Organomet. Chem. 2013, 745-746, 226-234, incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety). The Scatchard binding constants, K, of1-5 were found to be 2.8×10⁴ M⁻¹, 3.5×10⁴ M⁻¹, 5.7×10⁴ M⁻¹, 6.6×10⁴ M⁻¹,and 1.9×10⁴ M⁻¹, respectively with mean standard deviations of ±0.07.These results were consistent with the findings obtained from UV-visspectral studies.

A reliable method for studying the binding of molecules to nucleic acidsis the fluorescence quenching method. Ethidium bromide (EB) is a planarcationic dye which is widely used as a sensitive fluorescence probe fornative DNA. EB emits intense fluorescent light in the presence of DNAdue to its strong intercalation between the adjacent DNA base pairs. Thedisplacement technique is based on the decrease of fluorescenceresulting from the displacement of EB from a DNA sequence by a quencher,and the quenching is due to the reduction of the number of binding siteson the DNA that are available to the EB (Ramachandran. E.; Raja, S. D.;Bhuvanesh, P. S. N.; Natarajan, K. Mixed ligand palladium(II) complexesof 6-methoxy-2-oxo-1,2-dihydroquinoline-3-carbaldehyde 4N-substitutedthiosemicarbazones with triphenylphosphine co-ligand: Synthesis, crystalstructure and biological properties. Dalton Trans. 2012, 41 13308-13323,incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). Upon increasingconcentrations of complexes 1-5, the fluorescence intensity of CT DNApreviously treated with EB at 585-590 nm showed a remarkable decreasingtrend, suggesting that the Au(I) analogs bind significantly to DNA.Furthermore, the quenching extents were quantitatively evaluated byemploying Stern-Volmer equation and K_(SV) values for 1-5 were found tobe 0.19, 0.34, 0.67, 0.91 and 0.10, respectively. From the above data,it is clear that 4 replaces EB more effectively than other complexes,and this observation agreed with the results obtained from electronicabsorption studies.

In summary, the synthesized complexes 1-5 exhibit structural novelty:(i) a biologically active pharmacophore that could facilitate thetransport of gold to the target site, and (ii) the presence of a linearS—Au—PR₃ moiety that could act selectively in cancer tissues and couldundergo biological ligand exchange reactions, thereby exhibiting potentcytotoxic activity. For example, the PR₃ ligand may beexchanged/replaced by DNA. The complexes showed significant cytotoxiceffects and were found to be more active than cisplatin.

The foregoing discussion discloses and describes merely exemplaryembodiments of the present disclosure. As will be understood by thoseskilled in the art, the present disclosure may be embodied in otherspecific forms without departing from the spirit or essentialcharacteristics thereof. Accordingly, the disclosure of the presentdisclosure is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting of the scopeof the disclosure, as well as other claims. The disclosure, includingany readily discernible variants of the teachings herein, defines, inpart, the scope of the foregoing claim terminology such that noinventive subject matter is dedicated to the public.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An anticancer activity composition,comprising: a gold(I) complex represented by formula (I):

a salt thereof, a solvate thereof, or a combination thereof; human MCF-7breast cancer cells; penicillin; streptomycin; and at least onechemotherapeutic agent selected from the group consisting ofaflibercept, asparaginase, bleomycin, busulfan, carmustine,chlorambucil, cladribine, cyclophosphamide, cytarabine, dacarbazine,daunorubicin, doxorubicin, etoposide, fludarabine, gemcitabine,hydroxyurea, idarubicin, ifosfamide, irinotecan, lomustine,mechlorethamine, melphalan, mercaptopurine, methotrexate, mitomycin,mitoxantrone, pentostatin, procarbazine, topotecan, vinblastine,vincristine, retinoic acid, oxaliplatin, carboplatin, 5-fluorouracil,teniposide, amasacrine docetaxel, paclitaxel, vinorelbine, bortezomib,clofarabine, capecitabine, actinomycin D, epirubicin, vindesine,methotrexate, 6-thioguanine, tipifarnib, imatinib, erlotinib, sorafenib,sunitinib, dasatinib, nilotinib, lapatinib, gefitinib, temsirolimus,everolimus, rapamycin, bosutinib, pzopanib, axitinib, neratinib,vatalanib, pazopanib, midostaurin, enzastaurin, trastuzumab, cetuximab,panitumumab, rituximab, bevacizumab, mapatumumab, conatumumab, andlexatumumab; wherein R₁ and R₂ are alkyl groups independently selectedfrom the group consisting of methyl, ethyl and isopropyl; R₃, R₄, and R₅are independently selected from the group consisting of an optionallysubstituted C₁-C₃ alkyl, an optionally substituted C₃-C₅ cycloalkyl, anoptionally substituted arylalkyl, an optionally substituted aryl, anoptionally substituted arylolefin, an optionally substituted vinyl; andwith the proviso that R₁, R₂, R₃, R₄, and R₅ are not each an ethyl. 2.The anticancer activity composition of claim 1, wherein R₁ and R₂ arethe same, and R₃, R₄, and R₅ are the same optionally substituted C₁-C₃alkyl group.
 3. The anticancer activity composition of claim 2, whereinR₁ and R₂ are methyls, and R₃, R₄, and R₅ are selected from the groupconsisting of methyl, ethyl, and isopropyl.
 4. The anticancer activitycomposition of claim 2, wherein R₁ and R₂ are ethyls, and R₃, R₄, and R₅are methyls.
 5. The anticancer activity composition of claim 1, whereinR₁ and R₂ are methyls and R₃, R₄, and R₅ are ethyls.
 6. The anticanceractivity composition of claim 1, wherein R₁, R₂, R₃, R₄, and R₅ are eacha methyl group.